


His Agape | 彼のアガペ | Yuri!!! On Ice Story

by poppycock365



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Fluff, Hate to Love, Ice Skating, Light Angst, Multi, Original Female Character(s) - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-26
Updated: 2019-09-25
Packaged: 2019-09-28 00:46:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 23,470
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17172647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/poppycock365/pseuds/poppycock365
Summary: This is a story about Sakura, Yuuri's younger sister who is in love with skating, just like her brother. Though, also like him, she will be thrown on a path of self discovery as she meets world's top class champion skaters and one rather rude, blonde Russian boy. Which is a lot for a soon to be sixteen-year-old.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> okay, listen. this work is like- about two years late, but bare with me. the story behind this fic stretches all the way back to the 1st january of 2017. i started to write fanfiction only in 2016 because my friends introduced me to it so i didn't really know how to write back then. none the less, i tried to write an original character story for YOI, though it was absolutely terrible, but props to past me for trying. so i wrote three chapters and got bored because i discovered some other tv series a month later and didn't do anything else for the story. but then on new year's eve of 2017, i decided to rewatch YOI and i did. then i remembered that i tried to write this fanfiction, but i still didn't do anything because ugh depression exists apparently... so there's like five days left until the 31st and i decided to rewatch YOI again and, because i'm taking a break from my other story on my main account, i decided to do this as a side project since there [hopefully] won't be many chapters here. honestly, i can't wait YOI is such an incredible anime if you ask me and i'm in love with ice skating (even though i can't skate for shit) and i hope i can manage to finish this until february or something. 
> 
> there you have it. idk why i'm even writing this lmfao, but long story short- i love YOI and i hope you enjoy.

   She always skated in the Ice Castle until late at night. That ice rink was her absolute love. When she didn't have school, most of the days she would just go and skate. Her brother, Yuuri Katsuki, participated in various competitions, although, he wasn't so successful. Still, she idolized him.

   Right now she was skating- as usual. Yuko always let her skate even if she planned to close. Everybody thought Sakura skates so beautifully but she thought she could never be as good as her brother.

   She always watched him practice. He would always impress her by the way he moved. When it was only them on the ice, he would completely ease off and skate beautifully. Though it wasn't same when he went skating in front of a big crowd. He was always too nervous and intense to even think properly.

   Yuko was ready to close when someone came in. "I'm sorry we're closed!" Sakura heard her say. After that she only heard someone talking but she couldn't understand who was that or what were they talking about.

   Sakura shrugged it off and continued to skate around the ice rink, smoothly carrying out a few loops and jumps.

   After a few minutes, someone walked inside. She turned around ready to argue with the person because they were almost closed but instead a big smile spread across her face. "Yuri!!" She shrieked with excitement and skated to him as fast as possible.

  She almost made him fall as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "Hi little sis..." Yuri whispered into her hair.

  "I missed you so much." She said with her face buried into his shoulder.

  He fought for air as she didn't loosen her grip on him. "S-Sakura..." He fought for air. She let go off of him.

  "Oh, I'm sorry big brother..." she smiled at him "Do you want to skate?"

  He nodded. "I wanted to show something to you and Yuko..." he said.

  "Okay." Sakura said and exited the ice rink.

  He stated his performance... Though it was familiar to Sakura she was absolutely amazed by him. Only if he moved this way when he competed he'd be the best.

   He easily landed all of his jumps and did all his spins well... Than she remembered... This was Victor's performance. Viktor Nikiforov's. He was the reason Yuri even competed in skating. He was the best skater in last five years, but everybody assumes that he had enough of everything and will retire after his next win.

   Yuri skated with all his heart while Yuko and Sakura watched him. Everything was perfect. After the last spin Yuko screamed at him in awe. "That was beautiful!"

  Sakura smiled at her brother and clapped her hands. "Amazing!" She cheered him on and Yuri replied with smile.

  Later that evening, the Katsuki siblings were watching TV. Of course. They were watching an report on Victor and the other Russian skater. He was younger than Victor and was about to compete in seniors next year.  _"Yuri Plisetsky trains next to Victor Nikiforov for his next season and possibly the win in senior final."_

   As the man talked, Yuri landed perfect jump. "Did you see that jump?!" Yuuri yelled at the screen, holding his head in shock. 

  "He's amazing." Sakura whispered. There was something odd in his skating moves that made her stay absolutely glued to screen and watch him. She was mesmerized by the way he moved, his body completely sold to the way he skates. It seemed as if he knew only about that ice rink, nothing else mattered. He was made to become a champion and that was evident.

  After a while of hanging out with her brother, Sakura went to sleep. As soon as she closed her eyes, her phone buzzed. She took it and looked at notification only to see a video of her brothers performance from ice rink that day.

  She gasped and immediately rushed out of her bed, stumbling on the way to Yuuri's room. Minako was already there yelling some nonsense at Yuuri, who wasn't really taking it all too well. Sakura squeezed past her ballet instructor, eyes wide as she addressed Yuuri in an excited manner. "Yuuri look at this!" She showed him the glowing screen of her smartphone, smiling widely. "You're going to be famous."

  "I don't think it's that big of a deal, Sakura..." Yuuri sighed, earning a confused look from his younger sister. She frowned at him, huffing slightly while she crossed her hands.

  "You know your opponents will see it, don't you? It can be either good or bad for you, I mean, when you compete next time-" Minako spoke, leaning on the doorway as she looked down to the young man.

  "If I compete again." Yuuri gave her an apologetic look as he said that, but Sakura wasn't going to let it slip so easily.

  "What do you mean if? You have to." Sakura grimaced, a glimmer of disappointment in her eyes. "Yuuri, you're so talented and amazing and-"

  "You're saying that because you're my sister and you see me as an older brother who is this amazing guy, but I'm not. Nobody except you, mom and dad sees me that way." Yuuri pinched the bridge of his nose, shaking his head. 

  "Do you really think I idolize you because you're perfect?" Sakura said, completely offended by what he just said. "Yuuri I'm not stupid. You failed miserably at the finals last year. You were a complete  _disgrace_ , a _sorry excuse_  of a skater. But I still think you're amazing, because I know that you have it in you. Your love for ice skating has stunned me so many times and I love that about you. You're in love with skating and that's your main motivation. That's what made me love skating even more. I don't want to be like you because you're a world champion, but because I know that your love for skating will make it possible for you to become one." She finished and watched her brother's stunned expression for a very stretched, silent moment after what he lurched forward and hugged her with all he had, burying his face into the crook of her neck.

  "I'm so lucky to have you as a sister, you have no idea." He said and she was certain that he was about to cry. She chuckled and returned the hug as Minako smiled at her from the doorway. 

  "Let's go now you two, enough emotions we have to sleep, I have work tomorrow." The woman noted and Yuuri let go off of Sakura, giving her another soft smile. His sister did the same, going after Minako as she made her way down the hallway.

  "Goodnight." He muttered from his room and shut the door. Minako turned around to look at Sakura, giving her a soft expression of pride.

  "What?" Sakura looked away from the older woman's face, crossing her arms over her chest.

  "That was really mature." Minako told her, the grin never leaving her face. "I'm sure Yuuri's really proud of you. But, you know, you can compete too if you want."

  "I don't think so... I want Yuuri to have that, he's surely better than me. He has the competitors spirit and all that stuff, I just skate for hobby." Sakura shrugged.

  "Whatever you say." Minako rolled her eyes at the younger girl. "But I think you could pull it off. Don't hold back because of Yuuri, I'm sure he wouldn't mind. Anyway- goodnight. It's too late already, I don't know how I'm going to wake up for work tomorrow."

  Sakura chuckled at that. "Goodnight." And with that, she went back to her room, crawling under the covers of her bed. She laid there for a few minutes, staring at the ceiling and thinking about what Minako said. Maybe she could compete one day, though certainly not any time soon.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Viktor arrives to Hasetsu and Sakura isn't really excited about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so this is unedited for the time being, but i'll probably edit it after new years so yeah. 
> 
> when i'm already talking about it- happy new year to all that celebrate, i wish everybody to have an amazing 2019 because that's what everybody deserves!
> 
> now that that's over, i hope you enjoy this chapter!

The day after, Sakura woke up to a front yard of the Inn packed with snow. She gasped, checking the time displayed on her digital clock. It was already past one in the afternoon and for a moment she was worried that she missed school, but then she remembered that it was Saturday. With a slow sigh, she stood up and got dressed.

  She went downstairs and noticed that there was a loud murmur of several voices coming from the dining room. As she moved closer she could make out Minako's, Yuuri's and her mother's voice, as well as another, unfamiliar one with a Russian accent. She frowned to herself and entered the loud room, her eyes widening as she saw who was there.

  "Ah, there she is. Hey, Sakura." Her mother smiled fondly at her as her head threatened to explode, her pulse thumping heavily in her ears. All she could do was stare at the grey headed, Russian champion that sat on the floor not five feet away from her, happily eating a Pork Cutlet Bowl.

  "So you are Yuuri's sister?" Victor asked her directly and she instinctively panicked, turning around and stumbling out of the room. That was her idol in there, Yuuri's idol. And her brother was just casually eating with him on a Saturday morning like it was nothing.

  She was about to go back upstairs, lock herself in her room until the nightmare was over, but before she could the door to the dining room slid open and her pale looking brother walked out. "Are you alright?" He asked slowly, his expression telling her he already knew the answer.

  "That's Viktor in there?" She said, looking at him with a grimace that he couldn't quiet deduce. "W-when did he come here? Why is he here?" She looked away from Yuuri's face, dropping her gaze to her hands.

  "He came here this morning. He wants to, uh, be my coach." The young man in front of her answered. Her eyes widened at that, her brain confused as to how to react to this information.

  "That's- That's- Wow." Sakura put her hands on her cheeks, trying to calm her heartbeat down. Though, how could she? Her idol was just around the corner, probably getting jumped by Minako, his intentions being coaching her brother. The best skater in the world, the champion over champions,  _thee_ Viktor Nikiforov was  _right there_. It was absolutely insane when you think about it. Which Sakura couldn't, she couldn't think at all.

  "Yeah." Yuuri finally breathed out. "He wants to meet you, too. I mean I mentioned that you also skate-"

  "What? Yuuri you shouldn't have done that!" She protested, surprising her brother. He raised his eyebrows at her, a completely bewildered reflection in his eyes. "I don't want him to see how I skate. That's  _Viktor._ He's- He's- I don't know. He's my idol, okay? He's who I took inspiration from and- it's too much." She gasped, letting out the air that was pent up inside her lungs from the nervousness.

  "Listen, Sakura, you maybe think that you're not the best but you're amazing. Nobody coached you and look where you are now. I needed a coach and I'm still a complete mess. Don't you think I'm freaking out that Viktor is here too?"

  Sakura looked him in the eyes, seeing the gentle, pacifying feeling behind which was hidden the anxiety about all this mess. Yuuri looked completely distraught, pale and jittery, but she could see that he was excited about all of this. At least a bit. After all, Viktor was his idol too. He must've been thrilled to see him. 

  "Sorry." Yuuri's younger sister muttered, blinking heavily as she tried to calm down once again. "But Yuuri he's-"

  "He's amazing."

  "Yeah I mean, that's Viktor-"

  "Basically the God of ice skating..."

  "I'm really excited to meet him when you say it like that." Sakura rolled her eyes, getting a slight giggle out of Yuuri. She smiled at him, putting a hand on his shoulder. "You're going to be great, Yuuri, you deserve this." 

  "Right." He flashed her a small smile and looked away. "You know, I ran into the hot spring while he was there." He added randomly and she gasped, slowly pulling her hand back as a blush spread across her cheeks. He was probably just trying to ease the tension, but that was the last thing she needed.

  "Well." She exhaled sharply and looked away from Yuuri's face. "It would be absurd to ask you how was it, wouldn't it." She muttered to herself in a joking manner, but once she looked back to Yuuri's face he was mildly blushing, his lips pressed tightly together. "Okay. Tell you what, we're going back there and I'm going to meet him. I can do it." She said, but Yuuri was still looking like he was going to explode. "Stop doing that. You met him already."

  "Yeah, I-I did, right. Naked. Very, very naked." Yuuri scratched his neck and Sakura started freaking out, because her brother looked like he was going to die right then and there.

  "Shut up." She waved her hands at him frantically. "Stop saying that- I'm-"

  Suddenly the door to the dining room, which was not even a few feet away from them, swooshed open and a very smug looking Minako peaked out. "You two know that we can hear everything you're saying, right? I mean just to let you know before you say something you don't want-" She paused to clear her throat. "- _us_  to hear." She said and looked at the younger girl pointedly.

  "I'll be right back." Sakura whispered, attempting to run back upstairs, but Yuuri grabbed her forearm and held her back. 

  "No you won't, we're in this together now, you twat." He whispered hysterically, trying to be as quiet ass possible.

  "I'm not going in there." She whispered back.

  "Well, seems like I'm going to have to come to you then." A voice with a heavy Russian accent interfered suddenly. Sakura's head snapped in that direction, seeing Viktor standing there with his arm resting on the doorway and a cheery smile spread across his lips. He was dressed in a not  _too_  short kimono and- well that was the only thing he was wearing.  _As far as Sakura knew_. 

  She cleared her throat, glancing at Yuuri as if she wanted him to be the first one to speak, but Yuuri was just as stunned and embarrassed as her. Now, she had no choice but to speak to Viktor herself. "Um, g-good afternoon? I'm Sakura, Yuuri's younger sister." She held out her hand instinctively but felt her body freeze as soon as Viktor shook it, smiling at her widely.

  "Yes, he had said so. He also told me that you skate, just like him." The Russian man nodded at her as he looked at her curiously. She wasn't certain if she should feel intimidated or pleased that he was interested in her. After all, he was there to coach Yuuri. "You're fifteen, right?"

  "Y-Yeah. I'm going to be sixteen in a few months..." She muttered, scratching the back of her neck. Viktor huffed with satisfaction and proceeded to ask her if she would like to show him how she skated since Yuuri has to work on his form before he could skate. "I don't think so, Mr. Nikiforov. I'm not that good." She tried to laugh, but it just came out as a strangled wheeze. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go." She flashed him a fake smile and ran out of the Inn before anybody could say anything else.

  Viktor stared at the door she just stormed through in confusion, while Minako groaned in frustration as she realized that Sakura will probably never talk to them again. At least until Viktor is gone. Which meant that she will either overwork herself or get lazy again and start failing her tests in school.

  "Sorry about that. She's just a little overwhelmed, that's all." The ballet instructor told their new guest. "She'll come around eventually. Now let's go sit down, we'd like to hear everything that you have planned for Yuuri." She said with a smug expression, glancing over to Yuuri who was shaking from nervousness but instantly looking back to Viktor who was now smiling again.

***

  The dark haired girl gained her momentum as she skated across the ice, prepared to try another difficult jump that she wasn't yet able to land successfully. Sakura gathered all her courage, skating at full speed and then she jumped. She was able to carry out the jumping part, but the landing part- not really.

  She groaned in frustration as she fell to the ice, pushing herself up on her forearms and tossing around to lay on her back. She tried her best to catch her breath while she stared at the ceiling of the skating hall. This was mostly where she ended up every time she attempted to do any jump that's more than a double. There was just no chance for her to land a triple and she was so close to giving up and accepting it.

  Huffing to herself, she stood up and began doing mindless circles around the ice, without much effort. She just enjoyed the satisfying feeling of smoothly gliding across the ice with only silence surrounding her. While she was on the ice, alone, she felt at peace. As if nothing could hurt her and nobody could reach her. She felt safe there, more than anywhere else.

  And now she felt like that was her only escape from what waited for her at home. The fact that her idol was just within reach from her was an unbearable thought, which she hadn't fully accepted yet. It still felt a bit surreal and she was willing to hold onto that feeling as long as she could. He was there to coach Yuuri, that was surely his main focus, but he was still curious to see how she skated and that was little more than intimidating. Terrifying, actually.

  In no way was she ready to meet the God of ice skating any time soon, let alone have to look at him probably every day for a while. After all, he was staying to train Yuuri full time. That was something that Sakura didn't need, at all.

  Her only chance at keeping it together as best as she could was to avoid Viktor at all costs, and that was exactly what she had the intentions of doing. Besides, nobody would mind it. He didn't come to Hasetsu to coach her, anyway.

  Suddenly, she heard footsteps echoing from beside the rink and she tore her gaze away from the ice to see who was coming. "Sakura, we're about to close." Yuko told her and she nodded slightly, skating over to the exit. "Something's bothering you?" The older girl asked her, but Sakura just shook her head and walked past her.

  It was about half an hour later that she found herself in front of her home, taking in a deep breath before she entered through the front door. She didn't see anybody except her older sister, Mari, in the lobby. "Where did you run off to? It's been like five hours already, did you just skate this whole time?" The eldest Katsuki sibling questioned her little sister.

  "Hi, Mari. Yeah, I was trying to do some jumps..." Sakura trailed off, looking around as she took off her black jacket and unwrapped her white scarf from around her neck. "Where's everybody?"

  "I think mom and dad left to go grocery shopping or something like that. Yuuri's up in his room, I guess." Her sister replied nonchalantly, taking a cigarette into her mouth.

  "And where's-"

  "Viktor? He's probably with Yuuri. He wouldn't leave Yuuri alone since you left, it was funny. Yuuri's completely terrified of him." Mari chuckled, blowing out the smoke she just inhaled.

  "Thanks." Sakura muttered and headed upstairs, telling one more thing to Mari as she left. "You should really quit smoking. It's not healthy."

  "Sure. Whatever you say." The older woman retorted.

  When Sakura ascended the stairs she was greeted with the sight of her favorite Russian skater forcefully knocking on the door to Yuuri's room as he demanded for her brother to open. "Yuuri, let's have a slumber party! What better way to get to know each other, huh?" He asked and Sakura turned around to scurry down the hallway and into her room, but before she could do so, Viktor spotted her. "Sakura! Do you want to have a slumber party?"

  "Uh, I-I would love to, Mr. Nikiforov, but I'm really tired." She chuckled as calmly as she could, turning around to see Viktor's curious expression and glimmering blue eyes.

  "Were you skating? I was wondering where you went off to that soon..." He told her with a smile and she gulped, nodding slightly in confirmation.

  "I was trying to do some jumps and-"

  "Oh really?" Viktor asked excitedly as he walked over to her with his pillow under his arm. "Maybe you could show me next time? And call me Viktor, please. After all we will be seeing a lot of each other from now on, me being Yuuri's new coach and all..." The silver haired man blabbered cheerfully.

  "O-Okay." Sakura replied shyly, taking a step back in attempt to get further away from him and eventually into her room. "I really have to go sleep now, so- um- goodnight." She said and gave him a quick smile before quickly turning around on her heel and pacing towards her room as Viktor said a quiet goodnight behind her.

  She opened and shut the door behind her without turning around. Throwing her jacket off her shoulders onto the chair, she changed her clothes to sleepwear as fast as she could and jumped onto her bed, covering herself over her head and curling up under the blankets. 

  There was an eventful year ahead of her and she wasn't even aware of all the ups and downs she was going to go through.


	3. Chapter 3

  Sakura tried her best to focus on the book in front of her as Viktor kept talking to Yuuri about his new training program. The two of them were now loud enough to disturb her, and even though she knew she had to study, she didn't want to go away from Viktor.

   All these days she admired him from afar, trying not to spend too much time talking to him. Truth be told, she was afraid. Afraid that he wasn't what she hoped he was, or that she will just embarrass herself in front of her idol with her mediocre skating skills.

   Yuuri, on the other hand, had no problem spending so much time with Viktor at this point. And Sakura envied him for that. Her brother was sometimes shy, he often pulled back from opportunities, but this time she noticed he wasn't. She was glad for that, he deserved this opportunity more than anyone.

   "Sakura?" she heard somebody calling her, shaking her away from her daze, "Is everything alright?" the person asked with concern and she looked up from the ground, looking directly into his vibrant, ice blue eyes.

   Sakura suddenly felt at a loss of words, but somehow managed to stutter out, "Y-yeah, just... thinking," she mumbled and looked back to her maths book. Even though she often understood these math problems, in a situation like this the endless equations and formulae seemed as meaningless scrabbles and combinations of numbers and letters. She couldn't care less about math.

   "About what?" insisted the silver haired man, still staring though her soul with his curious eyes.

   _Please shut up, Viktor,_ she thought, clenching her teeth together as she cleared her throat and looked up. "Math problems, I have a test soon," the brown haired girl lied, smiling at Viktor as she tried not to exhibit the anxiety she felt. It was harder than she thought.

   Yuuri shot her a sideways glance, the meaning behind it clear. "Those math problems seem to stress you out an awful lot," he pointed out and she squinted her eyes at him, to what he added, "Aren't you the top of your year group?"

   "Sure, that doesn't mean that I shouldn't study. Nobody was born smart," she retorted, completely forgetting that Victor was in the room with them.

   Though, Viktor, even though completely surprised by the new discovery, didn't forget to make a remark, "Nerd," he propped his chin on his palm as he said it, smirking nonchalantly at Sakura.

   She was completely dumbfounded by it that she forgot what they were talking about altogether. "W-what?" the young skater felt her cheeks turn bright red, her eyes blown wide, "Did you just-"

   "Sorry, I didn't mean to offend you," the man chuckled, shrugging. He was so laid back, he didn't even expect that Sakura will actually take offense.

   "You know what, I have to go," she shut her book, leaving it forgotten as she bolted up from her seat. She got out of the room before she could see Viktor's stunned face and hear Yuuri calling out her name. Although she knew Viktor was joking she couldn't help but feel- embarrassed? Was that what she felt? Was that why she felt her face burn? Or was it something else?

   She grabbed her jacket from the lobby, running out in the mellow Saturday afternoon in an attempt to escape this irritating feeling of shame. It wouldn't be alarming if it didn't happen every time that Viktor spoke to her.

   Always, she felt the need to run away from talking to him because this happened every time. It would be best described as embarrassment, as if she was shy. But why? She wasn't usually shy. Not with anybody else she met. Not with strangers, not with kids her age.

  So she made sure to avoid the feeling by going for a walk. She walked for hours, she spent the whole afternoon roaming though streets of Hasetsu. She wanted to be certain that her mind was clear before going back.

  After a while, she ended up going along the beach, just as the sunset flamed up the sky. It was the prettiest sunset she had seen in a while, every colour from flaring orange to smooth pink decorated the wast expanse above her and she was grateful that she could be there, in that moment. She decided she was going to sit down for a while, enjoy the sunset and then head home.

  But soon, after she sat down on the soft sand, she heard somebody was calling her.

  " _Sakura!_ " they yelled.

  Sakura tried to locate the origin of the voice, frantically turning all around. And when she finally did, she wished she went further.

  Not too far away from her was the eccentric Russian with remarkable silver hair, making his way towards her in swift, confident strides across the sand. He moved so smoothly and so quickly that she didn't have time to think about what to say.

  "Hey," Viktor spoke, stopping right in front of her, "I'm sorry for what I said earlier. I really didn't mean to hurt you." He looked down at her with apologetic eyes. She could see that he was praying she wasn't that mad, because, truth be told, he wouldn't know how to deal with it.

  "No, it's okay. I'm sorry for running off," Sakura shook her head, mumbling. Her eyes darted away from him for just a moment.  She didn't want to do this. She didn't want to talk to him about it. Why can't he just stay away?

  Viktor looked surprised, "You don't have to apologize, Sakura, it was my fault."

  She clenched her hands into fists, looking away from his cold blue eyes. "It wasn't your fault. I'm just impulsive sometimes. I know you were joking, that's fine. I'm just-" she paused, a silent moment passing, "-frustrated."

  "And why is that?" Viktor questioned without a beat, deciding to sit down besides her. He was curious, but Sakura didn't like that. She didn't like being asked questions.

  For a few moments she only stared at the sunset in the distance, over the water. She was bying herself some time. But when she felt she couldn't ignore Viktor's question anymore, she sighed out, "I don't know." Then she looked up at him, a sudden wave of bravery washing over her as she said, "Even if I did, I think I wouldn't talk to you about it."

  Viktor smirked. "That's fair. But I can already see what's the matter," he told her.

  Sakura raised her eyebrows, trying not to look too intimidated. "What is it then?" she asked the Russian.

  He looked away from her face, fixing his gaze in front of him. "You are scared," he answered.

  Sakura frowned, looking at him intensely. "Wouldn't you know," she retorted, making him chuckle.

  "Of course I would," he looked back with a sly smile, "That's why you avoid me. You're intimidated. You think that suddenly, because I'm here, you have to prove yourself. Yuuri told me that you've admired my work."

  "Right," she huffed, shifting her gaze back towards the sunset, "I really don't know how to feel right now. With you here it's like-"

  "There's too much pressure?" Viktor asked before she could finish, but she confirmed with a nod.

  "Ever since you showed up. It still feels surreal, you know? Talking to you. You just came to Hasetsu and I have never even thought I'll get to meet you. Let alone think you'll be Yuuri's coach," she mumbled, falling silent afterwards.

  She could feel Viktor's gaze on her, studying her closely. Of course, she didn't feel the liberty to look back. In this moment Sakura felt small next to Viktor. He was a legend and she wasn't even an _attempt_ at professional ice skating. That's why she felt shy. That's why she felt embarrassed.

  "Come on," Viktor said finally after the awkward silence became too much, "You don't need to feel like this."

  "That's very helpful, Viktor, thank you. Suddenly I feel so much better," she rolled her eyes, full of sarcasm.

  Viktor huffed next to her, "I'm sorry, I really don't know what to say."

  "You don't have to say anything. Just sit here. Enjoy the sunset," Sakura told him and looked up, meeting his eyes.

  He had no idea what to do and it was completely obvious. Perhaps Viktor Nikiforov wasn't so intimidating. Perhaps he was _intimidated_. Because he had no idea how to deal with people _feeling_ something.

  Maybe, just _maybe_ , she didn't need to feel like this.


	4. Chapter 4

   Sakura walked into her parents' Inn, putting down her backpack and hanging her jacket behind the desk counter. She found that nobody was there, not even her parents were present. Most important, Viktor and Yuuri were missing.

    Another few days had passed since she got ambushed by the Russian skater at the beach, though the tension between the two was slowly fading. She was feeling more and more relaxed around Viktor, but she still had a faint sense of surreal when it came to him.

  Speaking of Viktor, "He's with Yuuri at the Ice Castle," Mari told her once she found her cleaning up the second floor, "They're practicing."

  "Do you think I should go see them?" Sakura bit her lip, watching her older sister sweep the floor in the hallway, "I haven't seen Viktor skate once since he came here. But then again I don't want to look like a creep, stalking him as soon as he goes to the ice rink. Do you think I'm acting stupid by avoiding him?"

  "No, I don't think so. You just need time to accept that he's here," the older girl sighed, standing upright and leaning against the wall, "I see how you look at him when he's near you."

  Sakura eyed the broom that now stood abandoned against the wall by Mari's side. She leaned against the opposite wall, right between two sets of windows. "What do you mean _the way I look at him_?" she dragged her eyes back to her sister, frowning slightly.

  "You know," Mari waved her hand around, "the hopeful, sparkly eyes and similar crap. Honestly, you look like you're in love with him."

  "I'm not," the younger girl replied too quickly, resulting in Mari raising her eyebrow in a questioning manner. Sakura folded her arms over her chest, "I'm _really_ not. He's older than me, Mari. Don't be dumb."

  "That doesn't mean you can't have a crush on him..." Mari smirked at her, "But don't worry, I won't tell him."

  "Oh _shut up,"_ she rolled her eyes, shaking her head. Though, it couldn't be counted out. What if she actually did have a crush on Viktor? Was that what's been happening all this time? "I don't think I do. I'm just afraid that I'll fail to impress him."

  "Sure. Whatever you say," her sister shrugged, taking the broom once again."But you don't have to avoid him. You should go," she added and Sakura smiled suddenly.

  "Thanks," the brown haired girl chirped, scurrying down the hallway and into her room, but not before she could hear Mari's quick ' _you're_ _welcome'_ _._

Soon, she found herself jogging towards the Ice Castle, carrying her skates in a small bag on her back. The day was warm, there were only a few clouds in the sky and she was thankful for the cheerful sun above her head. It's warmth was perhaps the only thing she thought couldn't go wrong.

  Everything else was just a disaster in the making, which she found out only when she had to push through the crowd of paparazzi once she got to the ice rink. One person even recognized her as Yuuri's sister, but she was lucky enough to escape them before they realized it.

  "What the hell is happening out there?" she asked her brother once she ran into him in the lobby. But before he could say anything, another voice interrupted.

  "Hey, do you mind?" the voice asked harshly, forcing her to snap her head towards its owner. The air she breathed in got stuck in her throat as she viewed the person standing in front of her.

  It was a blonde, lean boy with a thick Russian accent and almost turquoise eyes. It was Yuri Plisetsky. In flesh.

  "What are you staring at?" the boy grumbled, his eyebrows violently scrunched together.

   But Sakura was too shocked to speak, she opened her mouth to speak, only to close it once again when nothing came out. Is now every single professional ice skater she knows of going to come to Hasetsu? What had Yuuri done to make _Yuri Plisetsky_ come here?

  "Sorry for my sister," Sakura's older brother chuckled, trying to divert Yuri's attention away from Sakura. But he was nothing more than failing.

  Plisetsky only looked more curious, "Your sister?" he questioned rethorically, scratching his chin, "She sure doesn't look like you. Hey! Are you an ice skater?" the blonde stepped towards Sakura, waving his hand in front of her face.

  "I'm not," the girl finally spoke, stepping away from the angry Russian. She was still dazed though, completely thrown into a trance.

  "Oh, really? I hoped that at least somebody in the family knew how to skate," Yuri side eyed the older Katsuki, speaking though gritted teeth, "Since this fatso is nothing but a sorry excuse of a skater."

  That's what brought Sakura back.

  "Excuse me?" she shrieked, deeply offended by Yuri's comments. _How dare he say that?_ "You have no right to talk like that about my brother, primadonna."

  "So, she speaks," Plisetsky rolled his eyes, "I don't care, it's the truth. That piggy can't skate, he will never have a chance against me."

  "I'm sorry, but you surely have a lot to brag about. You haven't even competed once in the seniors league, don't you think it's a bit too soon to be so full of yourself?" Sakura narrowed her eyes at him, eying him up and down as if she was judging every ounce of his being, "Especially next to competitors like Jean Jaques Leeroy and Cristophe Giacometti."

  Yuri Plisetsky laughed, "Those fools won't be competition to me. I will crush them. And your brother better watch out if he wants to compete against me." Then he looked away, towards the entrance of the Ice rink, "Anyway, where's Viktor. I have to talk to him."

  Sakura shook her head, still looking at the blonde with thunderbolts in her eyes. How could he possibly be so full of himself? It was irritating, though also fascinating. The Russian was the same age as her, but she knew that he was far ahead of her in skating. She saw him skate. He was astonishing.

  _Maybe_ _he_ _had a point_ , she thought.

  "Viktor is on the ice," Yuuri finally spoke after a while, starting to walk towards the ice rink, "Also thanks for the vote of confidence. Now I know that you're nothing but an angry teenager without experience."

  Yuri became even more angry with that, but Sakura was proud of her brother. He was finally speaking up for himself, maybe Viktor was making him believe in himself a bit more.

  The three of them headed into the hall, walking in on Viktor skating some kind of coreography. Sakura was immediately mesmerized by the way Viktor moved, smoothly and softly, his whole body in a constant equilibrium with the way his skates grazed the ice. Some of his turns were sharp, but the whole coreoraphy was still perfect, almost too perfect. The way he skated was inhumane, it was as if he was a true god on skates.

  Sakura leaned on the small border of the ice rink, propping herself on her elbows. _How can_ _somebody_ _be that good,_ she asked herself, _is he actually real?_ She couldn't help but be amazed by the beauty behind his moves. He looked like he understood the ice, like he was doing it to show people how beautiful ice skating is. He is a mere prop to serve something greater than himself. Yet, he was doing so much. He was letting everybody see that ice skating isn't just a sport. It's art.

  What was she supposed to do, when Viktor was making it so easy for her to fall in love with him? But she knew now, seeing him skate, that this was a different kind of love. She wasn't in love with him as a person, as bad as it sounds. She was in love with his talent. With his genius.

  Viktor Nikiforov was a genius on the ice and Sakura admired that. She also wasn't very good in hiding it.

  "Are you in love with him or something?" she heard the angry voice of an equally angry Russian boy next to her, "You aren't exactly trying to hide it."

  Sakura was caught off guard. "No, shut up, Plisetsky," she hissed back, feeling her cheeks heat up.

  At least one Russian skater was easy to hate.

  "Whatever," Yuri grumbled, "By the way, you didn't tell me your name..."

  "None of your business," she dismissed him, looking at her brother who was still gazing at Viktor, his eyes blown wide. _Perhaps Im not the_ _only_ _one who is in love_ , she thought to herself.

  "Rude much?" Plisetsky asked, still trying to talk to her.

  Sakura looked at him with a death stare, "Rich coming from you, primadonna."

  "Stop calling me primadonna," he said, annoyed. Then he turned around to look back at Viktor, "You look like you're doing great, Viktor!" the boy yelled at his former rinkmate.

  Nikiforov then finally turned his head towards them, noticing the three of them for the first time since they arrived. Sakura had to look away now, she couldn't let him see the sparkly, hopeful eyes. He wasn't allowed to know.

  "Yuri!" Viktor cheered, a wide smile on his face, "You're here! I'm surprised Yakov let you come."

  To this Yuri Plisetsky replied with eyes full of rage. He was holding so tightly onto the rim of the ice rink that Sakura feared he'd actually crush it with his bare hands.

  "Judging by that look on your face, it's something I promised, right?" the silver haired man chuckled, getting off the ice.

  He stood right in front of the two Yuris, while Sakura stood a bit behind, trying to exclude herself a bit.

  "Sorry, sorry," the older Russian apologized, "I completely forgot. But you were aware I was the forgetful type, right?"

  "Painfully aware," Plisetsky growled back, snapping his jaw shut, "But a promise is a promise! You're going to design a choreography for me! We're going back to Russia!"

  Sakura's head snapped towards the three men that stood not even five feet away from her. _Going back to Russia?_ Why was she not liking this?

  Viktor thought for a moment, but then his face lit up as he got an idea. "I'll make two coreographies, one for each of you, to the same music!" he explained smugly, liking his idea even more as he said it.

  The two boys in front of him started arguing, obviously not too fond of the idea.

  "This piece has several different arangments and I was wondering which one I should use for the next season," Viktor told them nonchalantly, shrugging, "I'm going to make different programs for both of you, of course. I'll reveal the programs in one week and you'll compete to see who can surprise the audience more!"

  "Whoa!" Yuuri went completely pale, waving his hands around frantically, "Let's take a step back here."

  Plisetsky, on the other hand, was up for the challenge. "Viktor will do whatever the winner chooses! If those are the terms, then I'm in!" he spoke with determination.

  "I love it!" Viktor said with happy eyes, smiling widely, "We'll ask the Nishigories to plan the event and then we're all set up."

  "This is going to be a disaster," Sakura's brother whined, but she stepped up to him, putting a hand on his shoulder.

  "Don't worry, Yuuri," she told him as he looked at her, fear obvious on his face, "You're going to win."

  Her brother smiled at her, silently appreciating the fact that she believes in him. Though, on the other side of the story, Yuri Plisetsky didn't look a slight bit pleased.

  Quiet the opposite, he was ready to hate Sakura. She believed it was because of the way she couldn't care less about his attempt at being intimidating. Surely, she wouldn't let herself be intimidated by someone like him.

  Yuri Plisetsky wasn't somebody she was willing to surrender to. And she was going to let him know.


	5. Chapter 5

"Sakura, are you coming?" Yuuri asked her when they finished planning the competition event with Nishigories, looking at her hopefully. There was a slight sense of anxiousness surrounding him, but Sakura was anxious enough on her own.

"I'm going to skate a bit," she shook her head, tugging the strap of her backpack slightly, "You have fun." But she knew that it wasn't going to be exactly fun for him. Not with Yuri Plisetsky, certainly.

Speaking of the devil, "I thought you weren't a skater..." joined in the young Russian, suggestively looking at Sakura. He was so irritating, it would've been easier to punch him and just get it over with. Still, Sakura had boundaries.

"I'm not a professional skater, it's just a hobby," the girl replied swiftly, turning on her heel and heading back towards the ice rink. She didn't turn back around even when Yuri said that she was probably just as bad as her brother because- well,  _boundaries_.

 _If I was just as bad as Yuuri then I'd surely be bad enough to win gold at the Grand Prix_ , she thought to herself as she kicked off her shoes. If Yuuri wasn't so caught up in worrying what others think, he'd already be the champion. Even if Viktor didn't retire.

But when she thought a bit better, Viktor and Yuuri weren't much different. Both of them had the same love for ice skating, if not, Yuuri felt it even more than Viktor. Though, they also both had their own problems. Yuuri was too anxious and Viktor was too determined to impress others.

If it was up to Sakura, she would know not to feel too worried about other people. When it came to ice skating, she felt that a person needs to enjoy all it holds. The good and the bad. They can't be pressured by the audience, because that will, in the end, ruin them. Because you can't please everyone.

She took in a breath of cold air, tying up the laces on her skates.

It's important to feel, she thought.

Standing up, she stretched her arms and legs, getting ready to go on the ice. It was a routine, she didn't need to do it, but she did. It made her feel better. Sometimes she did things like that to help distract herself.

She was far from knowing what you need to be a professional, she realizes now.

Nevertheless, she braces herself and slides into the ice rink, immediately feeling better. She didn't need to think there, all she needed to do was skate. She wasn't a fifteen year old with too much awareness for her own good.

She was no one. She was alone.

Or at least she thought so.

"You're too tense," said a voice suddenly, surprising her. It didn't help that she saw Viktor when she looked up to see who the person was. And just like that, she found herself sitting on her ass with a pain in her ankle.

"Oh, crap," Sakura cursed under her breath, immediately taking off her left skate.  _It's sprained_ , she thought,  _at best_.

Viktor gasped as he saw the pained expression on her face, "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to startle you." Though, he was very well aware that he would, which was obvious. And completely infuriating.

"Can you shut up, please?" the girl scowled at him as she tried to move her foot, paralyzing pain erupting from it immediately. "It's definitely broken," she whined.

"Come on don't be a crybaby," Nikiforov tried to calm her down, but she only shot him a petrifying look, which, frankly, scared even him.

"What did you try to achieve by sneaking up on me like that?" she asked angrily, frustrated more than scared. "I can't go to school now for  _at least_  two weeks. I can't skate."

"Listen, maybe it's not broken..."

"I don't need your doctor opinion, thank you very much, Viktor," she growled at him, "I know what a broken ankle feels like. It's not my first time."

Viktor was silent for a moment longer, clearly trying to think what he could take away from this. And even when he opened his mouth to speak, he was interrupted by another person coming in.

"What's going on here?" Yuuri Katsuki asked, standing next to Viktor. He was shocked to see Sakura's angry expression when he looked at her. "What happened?"

"Viktor happened," she replied, taking off her other skate and standing up on one leg. She hopped towards the nearest place where she could hold onto the wall. "If he wasn't so smug and curious everything would've been just fine. But no. My damn role model needs to be an asshole because of whom I just broke my leg!"

Viktor looked panicked for a split second, "Come on, Sakura, it's not that bad. Like I said, you don't know if it's broken or not-"

"And like I said, I do," she sat onto the concrete border of the ice rink, letting her ice skates fall on the other side of it before she stepped outside on her good leg, "Because I've broken my leg fifty times already and when I finally thought this was over with- I end up here. Again!" she cried out, completely infuriated by Viktor's calmness.

"Sakura calm down-" Yuuri started to say, but he was cut off by his coach. Sakura could see him losing patience even over the ice.

"Well if you were any good this wouldn't have happened. The best of us don't lose balance so easily," he told her, shrugging dismissively, "But you obviously need to practice a lot more, if you're even thinking of competing. Or might as well just give up."

And that's when Sakura knew, Viktor Nikiforov wasn't who she expected him to be. That's what she could've seen all along, if she wasn't so dumb to be hopeful. Viktor had no idea how to deal with people, it shows from time to time. Whether it was because of the fame and ignorance, or simply because he never learned how to- Sakura wouldn't know.

"Maybe I don't want to be like the best of you. I wan't to be better. And surely less arrogant," she spoke with tears in her eyes, trying so bad to keep her voice steady.

Viktor's face loosened up when he realized how badly shaken up she  _actually_  was. But it was too late for Sakura, she had already lost all interest in liking him. Which he realized, only too late. That only proved her point about him being oblivious to other people's feelings. "I'm sorry, I-" he said, but Yuuri told him something quietly, to which Viktor looked down with a serious face, slowly backing away and walking out of the hall.

"Sakura, let's go call mom and dad, okay?" her brother asks softly from the other side of the ice rink, trying to calm her down.

She cleared her throat, wiping the tears away and sighing. "It's fine you can go with them. I'll be okay," the brown haired girl nodded, as if to assure herself.

"I'm sure Viktor didn't mean all that..." Yuuri tried, but it only made Sakura angry once again.

"Of course you're going to be on his side," she shook her head, picking up her skates and hopping on her good leg around the ice rink, towards her brother, "He's your coach now. You're so blinded that you can't see he's not who you thought."

"That's not true. He's maybe not perfect-"

"He's not. Nobody is perfect, Yuuri. I was just stupid for thinking that he is," she grabbed her backpack and stuffed her skates in it, pulling her phone out of the front pocket, "Enjoy the fun, though."

"Why are you being so negative all of a sudden?" he asked, but when she frowned at him, with another one of those petrifying looks, he understood. "Sorry," looking down at his feet, he said.

"Forget it," she shook her head, hopping towards the exit. She went into the lobby if the Ice Castle, and even though Viktor and Yuri were still there, seemingly waiting for the other Katsuki, she did her best to ignore them.

Sakura sat down on one of the few benches in the lobby, dialling her father's number into the phone. There was the steady beating of the cell phone connection, thumping a few times before her dad picked up the phone.

" _Katsuki Toshiya, how may I help you?_ "

"Dad?" her voice was shaky as she spoke, the pain finally getting to her. As much as she didn't want to cry, she felt like she didn't have any choice now.

" _Sakura?_ _What's_ _wrong?_ " her father asked, extremely worried, judging by the sound of his voice.

"I-I think I broke my leg again... I'm not sure. It hurts really bad, though."

" _Don't_ _worry,_ _I'm_ _coming to pick you up,_ " her father assured her.

Within another half an hour, she was riding in the back seat of her father's small, rundown car. He asked her several times how it happened, but she refused to explain. It wasn't important, what's important is that she made a fool of herself. Maybe for believing in Viktor Nikiforov and for believing that she was any good at ice skating.

As much as Viktor was arrogant, he was that much right. If she was any good she wouldn't have broken her legs and sprained her ankles all those timed. But doesn't the fact that she stood up and continued each time count as anything? Isn't that what makes a great skater?

   _But you obviously need to practice a lot more, if you're even thinking of competing._

 _Or might as well just give up._  

  Why should she try? If all this hard work was for nothing, if after all her effort the God of ice skating told her to give up, was there even a chance?


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay this chapter is in Yurio's POV,, for some reason i think it turned out pretty well? idk i really like how i wrote this and enjoyed it, so i hope you'll enjoy reading it!

  Yuri watched as Yuuri's sister came into the Inn with a pair of crutches tucked under her armpits and a bandage around her left leg. Viktor and Katsuki didn't mention what happened after he came, but he had guessed it wasn't anything good. He had an idea now. Though, he was sure they still weren't going to explain.

  "Hey, what's up with her?" he asked Viktor who was sitting in front of him, his mouth full of pork. The older Russian only shot him an irritated look, though. Yurio frowned, turning to look at Yuuri, "What happened to your sister, piggy?"

  "She fell," the raven haired man answered shortly, clearly trying to bring the conversation to an end. But Yurio was too curious to let it go.

  "Shouldn't you go check on her or something?" the young Russian asked, taking another bite of the soft, warm meal in front of him. He shouldn't care, and he didn't, he was simply curious about what could've gone so badly in a span of only twenty minutes.

  Yuuri glanced at him from the side of his eye, "I'm sure Sakura needs some time to herself." Still, Yuri could see that he didn't mean what he said. It was obvious that the fatso wanted to go and talk to his sister.

   _Which means she doesn't want to talk to him_ , Yurio thought,  _what dumb thing could've he possibly said?_

 The brown haired girl was now out of their view, but he could still hear as she assured her parents she  _can_  walk up the stairs on her own. They argued for a small amount of time, but then he guessed they let her deal with it on her own, because not even a moment later were Mr and Mrs Katsuki in the room with them.

  "Well, sorry for not being here..." Mrs Katsuki said, smiling as wide and as convincing as she could, "I see we have a new visitor." The woman looked at him warmly, trying her best to hide the worry that was now certainly clouding her mind.

  "Mr and Mrs Katsuki, this is Yuri Plisetsky," Viktor smiled as he introduced him to Katsuki's parents. The two of them seemed much like Yuuri, cheerful and bright. Not the type of people Yurio usually had the time to hang around.

  "Well, it's nice to meet you, son," Yuuri's father beamed, but Yuri didn't have time to play nice.

  "Sure," he replied with little to no interest. But he was interested in one thing. In one person. Sakura.

  She was so eccentric and Yuri didn't have a slightest idea in what way. They barely spoke and here he was, curious about her well being. It's not like he cared. Right?

  "Anyway, you guys just say if you need anything, all right?" Mrs Katsuki offered, rushing his husband out of the room. It was as if Yuuri was a child and they were his friends.

   "Thanks, mom," Katsuki smiled at her, his eyes following the slide door as it shut.

    _Their whole family is pathetic,_ Plisetsky thought _, I wonder if Sakura is the same._

    After that a three days had passed, which meant that there was three days since Yurio had seen Sakura. She didn't exit her room once, and even though her brother tried to go see her, there would just be yelling from the upstairs. All Yuuri's attempts were empty fails to get her to feel better.

   But now Yurio had enough. He couldn't take it anymore to not know why was she so frustrated, hearing her argue with whoever came up to check up on her. From what he gathered, she would only let her mother come in and occasionally her father. Yuuri was not allowed to enter and Viktor hadn't even tried. Her older sister also went in two or three times, but ended up getting kicked out each one.

  Now it was his time to try, he was curious more than anything. 

   _Curiosity killed the cat, so what?_

  He tried to calm his nerves before going in, raising his fist to knock. But he froze. What was he doing there? Who was he to intrude into this girl's life? He didn't even know her.

  "Aren't you going to go in?" he heard somebody say behind him, and turning around he saw the older Russian figure skater. Viktor looked so smug, standing there. It was irritating. "You should know, Sakura knows how to get to people."

  "Did she get to you?" Yurio asked, raising his eyebrows as he stuffed his hands in his pockets. He knew little to no boundaries.

  Viktor thought for a moment, "Not entirely, no," he spoke then, leaving Yurio and going  downstairs before the blonde boy could say anything.

   _Jerk._

  Yurio turned back towards the wooden slide panel, bracing himself and knocking before he could change his mind.

  " _If it's you Yuuri, I don't want to talk to you_ ," he heard her say from the inside, startled for a moment, " _Just because you're my brother doesn't mean you get an ultimate Forgive You pass._ "

  She's talking about the other Yuuri, it's fine. He's safe. 

  He sighed, rolling his eyes.

 How badly can this go?

  "I think it's not the Yuuri you think it is," the blonde replied after another second of silence, hearing her mutter something from the inside before she spoke up clearly again.

  " _What do **you**  want, primadonna?_" she growled, making it clear she didn't want to talk to him. But why would he stop now, after gathering all this courage?

  He didn't answer back, he just opened the door and went in, sliding it shit behind him. When he looked around, he found Sakura sitting on her bed, her left leg in the casket along with the right one without it, both stretched out in front of her. She was sitting straight up, her back pressed into a pile of pillows against the headboard of her bed.

  "I just wanted to see how you're holding up," he finally answered as he inspected her red eyes and hair tied up in a really messy bun. She was in her sleepwear, a lilac set made up of shorts and a T-shirt.

  "Why would you care,  _Plisetsky_?" Sakura crossed her arms over her chest, looking him up and down. She wasn't glad he was there, but she was curious to see  _why_. Both of them had a good reason to stay there, talking to each other.

  He shrugged, looking around her room. "I guess I'm curious," he admitted.

  There were a few posters up on her walls, of famous pop singers and groups. But in the far corner there was a whole bunch of pictures of figure skaters and different tickets for different competitions. There were even her skates on the ground, below all that.

  From where he stood he could see a bunch of the competitors he was going to go up against that season. There was Cristophe Giacometti, on one of the bigger pictures. That one was even signed. He could see a picture of her with Phichit Chulanont and Yuuri. There were a few pictures of her brother, during some of his best performances.

  "If you're looking for your picture, there isn't one," she said suddenly, bringing him back to reality, his head snapping in her direction. She wore an expression of determination. It was as if she was putting up an extra layer of defense just for him. It would be intimidating, if he didn't know what was going on.

  "I wasn't, actually," he said, walking over to her working chair and sitting down. The action obviously surprised her and her guard dropped for a moment. "I was searching for Viktor. Wouldn't he be on your wall?"

  "Not anymore," she rolled her eyes, diverting her gaze towards the corner he was looking at just moments ago. There was something in her eyes, the determination was lost though. This was all rage and- a feeling of being betrayed. And then when she looked at him- envy.

  "Why, what happened?" he asked, curiosity getting the best of him. He winced, once she put up that extra layer once again.

  She huffed, "Aren't you a nosy one, primadonna?"

  "Stop calling me primadonna, alright?" he growled back, grimacing at her. This made her smirk.

  "Why? So you can get a sense of superiority? That's not going to help you feel better, Plisetsky. You're not so intimidating when a person is prepared. You're just like a Russian doll. Beautiful only from the outside."

  "What is that supposed to mean?"

  "That you can't be the best if your body is a hollow husk."

  "Will you stop with the damn metaphor?"

  "But you get it, don't you?" she asked, looking away from him, "If you think you can be a figure skater, you have to put your soul into it," she closed her eyes, "That is... if you have one, of course."

   When she looked back at him she had a softer look on her face. His heart was now beating so quickly he couldn't even think. Viktor warned him and he was stupid for not believing. Not all Katsukis were pathetic, this girl knew how to make a person doubt themselves.

  "I'm sorry," she sighed, her gaze falling down to the plush white rug in the middle of the floor. She looked sad now. "I'm just frustrated, okay? I've been here for three days straight. I haven't gone to school, I haven't skated..."

  "You love skating, huh?" Yurio questioned her as he crossed his legs, leaning back into the desk chair, studying her closely.

  "Yeah," she nodded, her eyes sparking up, "I wish I was any good at it." She was on the brink of crying and Yuri panicked, he didn't know how to deal with it.

  "I'm sure you aren't that bad," he told her, as soft as he could manage, feeling a slight warmth on his face once she looked up at him.

  "How would you know?" she huffed, shaking her head, "You're maybe good, but Viktor is better than you. I mean, he would know, wouldn't he? Should I just listen to him and give up?"

  So that's what was going on. Viktor said something again. And for some reason it made Yuri mad, because Sakura was now hurt. It wasn't her fault, she didn't know better.  _She doesn't know that Viktor is an impulsive asshole_ , Yuri thought.

  "Don't listen to him, okay? He's an idiot," Plisetsky told her, "He doesn't know anything about other people's feelings. He's a jerk."

  She looked at him for a moment longer before smiling slightly, "Yeah, I figured."

  "Yeah. So- whatever," he looked away from her face and at her bandaged leg, "When are you gonna take that off?"

  "Tomorrow, actually," she looked down, patting her thigh lightly, "It was just a mild sprain. But I can't skate for another week or two, you know? Just to play it safe."

  "Yeah," he hummed absently, staring at her bandages slightly longer, "Anyway. I'm gonna go eat."

  "Sure," her eyes followed him as he stood up and walked towards the door, "Maybe you could come later to hang out, huh?"

  He stared at her as his cheeks turned a slight rose color, standing out from his otherwise pale face. "Okay," he gave her a quick smile before he rushed to get out of the room. 

  As he went down the stairs he realized a few things. One was that Sakura was a difficult person, second was that she was so mature for her age, and the third one was that she was unlike any other Katsuki. So there wasn't anything he could do to know what she will do next. She was completely different and that's perhaps what scared him a bit.

  But he was more so intrigued by her appearance. She was also very pretty. She could've easily passed as a figure skater, judging by her physique. Her long hair made her look even more elegant.

  He stopped a few steps away from the ground.

  Why was he thinking about all of this?


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm sorry if this is cheesy,, but do i really care? no. shut up and read this cheesy masterpiece uwu

  When Sakura returned from the hospital the following day, she was greeted by the sight of her brother, Yuri and Viktor having a lunch with Minako and her mother. She hadn't seen Minako in a while, and her ballet instructor actually had no idea what happened.

  "There she is," Minako smirked at Sakura, "Did you cry when you fell, huh?"

  "Yeah," Sakura rolled her eyes, walking into the room and sitting down besides Plisetsky, "But it was because I was worried I broke it again. Luckily, it was just a sprain," she glanced at Viktor as she accepted a Pork Cutlet Bowl that her mother was giving her. Though when Viktor's head started rising, she dropped her gaze on the dish in her hands.

  "Well, it's good that you didn't," her ballet instructor commented, "I'm not sure it's healthy that you're pressuring yourself that much. You can't physically endure all those continuous hours on the ice. Of course you'll fall tired and break your leg eventually."

  Sakura felt her cheeks heat up when she heard a nearly inaudible gasp from Yurio, she was too afraid to look up though. She could feel Viktor's eyes boring into her soul as she tried to keep her composure.

  "I guess," she finally replied after a long, awkward moment of silence, shrugging and stuffing her mouth full with food. She felt that food was the only thing that would keep her from breaking something. The feeling of frustration didn't leave her, and she was certain that if somebody says something at the wrong time again- she was going to lose it.

  Though, enough to her relief, nobody spoke another word until they were done eating. Some would tell you that's called  _awkward_ , but Sakura felt just okay. She didn't need to speak, she just needed everybody to be there with her and not fight. Even Viktor.

  Perhaps she was too impulsive, back at the ice rink. But how can you blame her? She was scared, which may have clouded her judgment. More than a little bit. Still, she knew that she could've acted a bit calmer. It wasn't Viktor's fault that she happened to get scared and lose her balance.

  But he also should've known better than to say those things to her, as much as she was irritating and impulsive.

  Still, what happened, simply happened. There's no turning back.

  When everybody was finished eating, she helped her mother clean up the dishes and was about to head upstairs when she noticed that Yurio was still sitting at the table, now alone as he stared at his hands. She was going to go and catch up with her homework, but now she had a better idea. Not that it was a smarter one.

  "Hey, you busy?" she asked as she walked up to the Russian blonde, watching him slowly lift his head to look at her face.

  He frowned, "What kind of a stupid question is that?" the boy grumbled, leaning against the low table on his elbow, his chin propped on his hand. He looked like he was bored out of his mind and Sakura was willing to pull him out of that state.

  "So where did Yuuri and Viktor run off to?" she asked, sitting down on the opposite side of the table from him, "They went sight seeing?"

  "I think so," Yuri shrugged, "Anyway, what do you want?"

  Shrugging back, Sakura smiled at him. "I was wondering if you'd like to go get crepes?" she asked him, watching as curiosity made its way into his eyes, sparkling them up.

  "Isn't that a French desert or something?" he raised his eyebrows.

  "Well, yeah... I guess," she grimaced, thinking of it, "I don't know, actually. But there's a Japanese version of it and it's really tasty. So what do you say?"

  The Russian skater thought for a bit, but she could already see that he was going to agree. Nobody ever said no to Japanese sweets and that was a fact.

  "Alright," he gave her a flash of a smile, "But we can't be out until too late. Viktor is going to show us the programs he had for us tomorrow and I don't want to be late."

  "Great," she felt her smile widen automatically, "I'm just going to change, be right back." She rushed out of the room and up the stairs before he could reply anything, immediately searching through her clothes for something to wear.

  Since she didn't have enough time, she just picked a random hoodie and black pants, quickly dressing up. She was back out of her room in no time, tying her hair up in a high ponytail as she descended the stairs. Plisetsky was already in front of the front door, waiting for her to come down.

  He viewed her from the side of his eye, not too brave to make direct eye contact. "I like the shirt," he muttered and she looked down at herself, noticing that she accidentally picked out her old Pusheen cat sweater.

  "Yeah, thanks, it's kinda old," she sighed, rolling her eyes.

  "It looks cute," Yurio replied, staring at the closed front door with a tense look in his eyes, blushing slightly. After a moment of two of the silence, Sakura staring at him and him staring at the door, he spoke again, "Are we going or what?"

  "Y-Yeah, s-sure, sure,"Sakura stuttered, walking past him to find her parents. Why was she blushing so hard? Okay, Yuri Plisetsky said her sweater was cute, but he didn't say it looked cute on her. She was over reacting, either way. She was being  _pathetic_ , as Yuri would probably say "Mom, dad?" she called out for her parents, hearing a faint  _yes_  from somewhere in the house, "I'm gonna show Yurio around Hasetsu, we won't be long."

  And then, the two of them were out of the Inn and searching through the streets of Hasetsu. For a while, Yuri wouldn't shut up about how the town was so small and there wasn't anything happening, but when they came to the biggest streets, around late afternoon, he finally stopped complaining. Then he looked around at all the small food stands with different kinds of Ikayaki and other Japanese street food.

  "This all looks so delicious," he smiled lightly, his eyes wide at the humble pedestrian street. She was glad he liked it. Perhaps she actually liked him enough to care what he thinks about her small hometown.

  "Let's go get those crepes," she pulled him by his arm forwards, dodging the tourists as she tried to find a Crepe vendor. But even when they stopped in front of one food stand that sold all kinds of different candied fruits and different kinds of crepes, she didn't let go. "Hello sir, can we have two chocolate crepes please? With strawberries."

  She smiled at the old man, who nodded and immediately got to work as she gave him enough money. She looked around the street, attempting to find something else that they could perhaps try. She was looking all around, but when her eyes finally settled back on Yuri by her side, she could see he was completely uncomfortable.

  "Hey, are you okay?" she asked him, her eyes gazing at his side profile. She wasn't ever this close to him, but he was still pretty even from up close. You couldn't even find a flaw on his elegantly structured face.

  "It's fine," he cleared his throat, shifting slightly and making Sakura realize she was still latching onto him like a little child, "I'm okay."

  She was going to pull away from him when the vendor reached out to give them their food, but Yuri took it with his free hand, thanking the man and proceeding to start walking away with Sakura by his side. He handed her one of the crepes, biting into his.

  "This is great," he smiled at her, receiving a big smile from her in return.

  "I'm glad you like it," she replied cheerfully, taking a bite of her own treat. And she was glad. Because she enjoyed seeing the usually grumpy Yuri Plisetsky happy, just because of a simple thing like a crepe.

  As they walked back home, the sun was already low and the night was about to start. Sakura got an idea, just as the first of street lights turned on. She knew a perfect place to show Yuri. The one place from which you can see all of Hasetsu.

  "Come on, I wanna show you something," she tugged at his hand, starting to run forward as she dragged him besides her.

  He looked surprised for a moment, "Don't tell me it's something dumb," he whined as he started running at the same pace as her.

  She chuckled, deciding to hold him to his curiosity for as long as she could, "You'll see."

  The two of them raced through the small streets of the small town, then even smaller, until there were no people to see anymore, only stray cats and knocked over garbage cans. At last, they entered a narrow, poorly lit space between two fairly tall buildings.

  "What kind of a rat hole is this?" Yuri asked grumpily, but Sakura shot him a judging look and he shut up immediately.

  "Can't you be patient?" she huffed, pulling down a set of fire escape stairs, the rattling noise disturbing a stray cat near them that bolted away from her hiding spot. 

  Sakura started going up the emergency stairway, the blonde boy following her without a word. The two of them slowly climbed up, until they were on the roof of the building. 

"Wow," Plisetsky gasped, his eyes going wide at the sight.

 Below them, stood Hasetsu proudly, decorated in all kinds of different colored lights. From there they could see the street they just bought their food at, they could even see the Hasetsu castle looming in the distance. Even the sky was clear, revealing the stars that were trying so hard to illuminate the dark night.

  "I told you you'll see," Sakura jabbed him lightly in the side of his arm with her elbow, making a few steps towards the edge and sitting down. Her head was lightly spinning from the height, but she didn't mind it this time.

  Yuri sat next to her, "How do you know all these places?" he asked, looking her directly in the eyes.

  "I've lived here for almost sixteen years. I've never seen anything except Hasetsu, actually," she confessed, looking away from Yuri's vibrant eyes and back onto the blinding lights of her favorite town. "But I figured I don't need to go anywhere. Everything I need is right here, in my hometown. I mean, isn't it beautiful? Man I love to come up here." She leaned back, propping herself on her arms.

  "It really is beautiful," Yurio admitted, nodding to himself. She looked at him now, slightly behind him, and found that his hair looked so soft on the light breeze, it was impossible how delicate every single part of him looked.

   _Except of his personality_ , she thought.

  Though still, Yuri Plisetsky didn't fail to amaze her. And when she thought about how well he skated, there was another level of respect she gained for him. He was undoubtedly a true phenomenon. He was beautiful. 

  "How did you find this place?" he suddenly asked, bringing her back to reality as he laid on his back and looked up at the sky.

  "A friend from school showed me long ago," she muttered, looking away from him, but feeling his eyes on her. She could feel him inspecting every part of her features, thinking she didn't realize.

  "A friend, huh?" he grunted, diverting his gaze towards the sky.

  "What are you hinting at, Plisetsky?" she shot him a short, narrowed glare.

  "Nothing," he shrugged, twirling a strand of his blonde hair between his fingers, "Just that I don't think anybody would take just a friend up here."

  The words made her more confused than she thought she would be. "O-Oh?" she cleared her throat, feeling warmth gather in her cheeks. He didn't look at her again, though.

  "This place is special, you don't show it to just about anybody..."

  "Well, I showed it to you, didn't I?"

  He looked up at her then, the two of them having a stretched out staring competition in the absolute silence of the night. Neither one looked away at first, because the staring wasn't uncomfortable... They were both just endlessly confused by one another.

  "What do you mean by that?" dared he to ask. 

  "Well, I don't know-" Sakura finally lost, "I mean, you're just about anybody to me, we only met each other, you know?"

  "Right," Yurio sighed, standing up and dusting his trainers off, stuffing his hands in his pockets afterwards. "It's getting late, we should go."

  "Y-Yeah, okay."

  That's how the night ended. Even though they had another long walk home, Sakura didn't feel like enjoying the rest of it. Nothing about it was awkward and that's what confused her the most. She liked how the events of that afternoon rolled one after the other, but the end of it all was just plain confusing.

  When they came back to the Inn, Viktor and Yuuri were in the living room and Sakura was quick to get lost upstairs, while Yurio went to hang out with them. She didn't have any business ruining her perfect afternoon by getting involved with her brother and his coach.

  Instead, she just decided to take a shower and go to bed. And just as she pulled her covers over her head she realized why it was confusing.

   _Can it really be?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i actually am not that confident, so i really hope u liked this bc i think it's pretty good. i mean, i really like how this whole fic is building up and i got it all figured out. i'm so proud that i could finally get this right,, oh man u have no idea


	8. Chapter 8

  Sakura leaned back in her desk chair, trying desperately to think of a solution for her physics homework. She has been stuck on the same question for what seemed like five hours, but in reality-  it hadn't even been half an hour. Truth be told, she wasn't even sure how good she did the previous questions, though that seemed like a minority, opposed to what she had on mind. 

  Ever since the day before, she hadn't stopped thinking about Yuri Plisetsky. About what he told her. 

   _This place is special, you don't show it to just about anybody..._

  Was it really true? That Yurio was special to her? But the two of them hadn't known each other for long, barely a conversation or two. Yet, she was ready to show him the place nobody else knows about. He wasn't just about anybody, that's the truth. But the most pathetic thing is that, even if she let herself openly care for him, he wouldn't feel the same towards her. It was just the type of the person he was.

  And then again, he was her brother's rival, how could she do that to Yuuri? How could she possibly have a crush on someone who, quiet literally, wanted to  _crush_  her brother? It was just over complicated and she wasn't ready to deal with it. Because, let's be real, was Yuri Plisetsky worth it?

  The door to her room slid open suddenly, pulling her away from her thoughts. "What are you doing?" the person asked, not bothering to be polite. 

  "There's this thing called knocking, have you heard of it?" she turned around and looked at the blue-eyed Russian boy as he slid the door shut and crashed down on her bed, "I hear it's really great. May be the next big thing of this century."

  Yurio looked at her with a frown on his face, "Do you ever shut up?" he asked, turning to lay on his back, "Viktor gave us the music for the short programs." He said it angrily, as if there was something terrible in that.

   "And?" Sakura tried to lead him to tell her how was it, but he only huffed and shook his head. "Was it that bad? I mean, isn't Viktor supposed to be good or something?"

   "That jerk is only worried about surprising the audience that he forgot I'm not him. He's acting so smug, like me and your brother are his guinea pigs. But your brother is too charmed by his new boyfriend to see it," Yurio complained and Sakura wanted to scold him for talking about Yuuri like that, but then she realized that he was maybe right.

  Her gaze fell to the carpeted floor of her room, "Tell me about it," she sighed and stood up from her desk chair, going over to sit on the carpet with her back pressed against the side of her bed, "Yuuri is so blinded by Viktor... He spends so much time with him and we haven't even really talked since he came back to Hasetsu," she realized. 

  "Hey," Yuri said after a short pause, leaving the bed to sit next to her on the floor, "Don't beat yourself up about it too much, alright?" he avoided to meet her eyes, "I'm going to win in the face off anyway."

  "Oh yeah?" she laughed, shaking her head, "How are you so sure, primadonna? Are you a sore loser?"

  He crossed his arms across his black T-shirt, his eyebrows scrunched together as he looked at her with the side of his eye, "You'll see. I'm going to win and then I'll have Viktor as my coach, which means I'll win at the Grand Prix."

  She smiled at him, despite his angry expression, "You know, if you think you're that good, you don't even need Viktor," she stood up, only to lay on the bed. 

  Yurio did the same, standing up, but he hovered at the side of her bed for a moment longer, looking through the window in front of him. "Maybe," he fell silent again, then after a seemingly long minute of silence he spoke again, "Anyway, I'm going to go get something to eat... You?"

  "I don't think so... I'm not hungry," she answered him, sitting up on the bed, "I have to do my physics homework."

  He looked at her for a moment, surprised. "Homework, huh?" he smirked, "That's so lame."

  "Right, some of us don't have a promised career in figure skating, asshole..."

  "But you could," he shrugged and went out of the room before she could ever reply. 

  Sakura sighed to herself, standing up and sitting back at her working desk. She looked down at the different formulas and numbers, hoping anything would pop into her mind about how to solve the question she was given, but there was nothing. It reminded her just about the fact that she had a real life problem that needed to be solved.

  What was she going to do with this? With Yuri Plisetsky? Perhaps she was over reacting, the two of them could be just friends and nothing more. They're both fifteen, neither of them needs a serious relationship like that. Especially Yuri. He's about to debut as a senior, what he needs the least is a girl to distract him.

  She was about to stop thinking about it, but there was now somebody knocking on the door of her room. "Come in," she called out for the person.

  The door opened to reveal her brother, standing there in his sweatpants and tracksuit jacket, straight from practice. "Sorry to disturb you, I was just wondering what you were up to..." he scratched the back of his head, coming in and closing the door.

  "I was trying to do my physics task, but then Yurio came in," she shrugged, closing her notebook and pushing her to the side, "It can wait."

  Her brother sat on her bed, "You and Yurio are really getting along, huh?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

  "Oh, shut up, it's not like that," she rolled her eyes, despite the fact that her cheeks were now burning. Which was clearly evident, judging by the smug look on Yuuri's face.

  "Yeah, right..." he crossed his arms, smiling suggestively at her.

  "What about you and Viktor?" she shot back and Yuuri's face immediately flushed red, "You see, now who's blushing?"

  "He's my coach, okay?" he narrowed his eyes, shaking his head, "Our relationship is professional."

  Sakura huffed, smiling, "That's the exact reason why you two disappear into hot springs so often," she wiggled her eyebrows and Yuuri's face became even redder.

  "Can we stop talking about it now, alright?" he sighed, looking down at the floor as his shoulders slumped, "Anyway, he gave us the music for our short programs." Though, Yuuri didn't seem happy either.

   "Yeah, Yurio told me. He was pissed, to be honest," she huffed through her nose, "He said that you weren't so happy either, but went along with it because of Viktor. You know, maybe he's right," Sakura shrugged, seeing the obvious concern on her brother's face, "You don't need to listen to Viktor all the time. Sure, he was the best, but I don't think he should force his own ideas on you."

  "Why do you think like that?" Yuuri asked, completely offended, "Just because it wasn't how I worked before, it doesn't mean I shouldn't listen to Viktor. I'm improving so much because of him and you're telling me to stop listening to him?"

  "No, I'm telling you that you shouldn't listen to  _everything_  he says," Sakura shook her head, coming over to sit next to Yuuri on her bed, "Viktor is different from you by so much. If you have some ideas of your own, just act on them, okay? That's what I'm saying."

  "Yeah," Yuuri sighed, pulling up his knees against his chest and hugging them, "I don't know. I really like Viktor's ides even though they intimidate me."

  "Well, then do what you want to do. I'm just giving you my opinion. You don't have to listen to me either," she chuckled, shrugging, "So, can I hear the music?"

  Yuuri looked up at her smile, a smile of his own slowly creeping on his face, "Sure," he told her and went over to the shelf with her old CD player. He pulled out a disk out of the inside of his tracksuit jacket, pushed a button on the small device and laid the disk inside. Then he told her, before the music started playing, "It's called In Regards To Love: Eros."

  "Like the god of passionate love?" she raised her eyebrows, intrigued.

  The music started playing, first came a vibrant sound of the flamenco guitar, then came a seductive melody followed by a tempo dictated by castanets in the background. The song was quick and sounded like a Spanish melody, it perfectly fit its name. Eros. The depiction of sexual and passionate love. But it was a dumb thing to give it to Yuuri.

  When the music finished playing, Sakura crossed her hands, sighing deeply. "I like it," she said and Yuuri was about to smile, but then she continued, "But this is unlike you, Yuuri. Eros? Really?"

  "What are you trying to say?" he narrowed his gaze at her.

  "Have you ever experienced Eros, huh?" she grimaced, laying on her back. 

  Yuuri was obviously taken aback by his sister's statment, "What? Why would you ask me that?"

  "Because I know you. You never had a lover."

  "Yeah, like you would know that."

  "Sure," she frowned, propping herself up on her elbows, "I wouldn't. Because all we ever talked about is skating and school. You never told me you had a girlfriend. But I know you good enough to know that there never was one. The only person you've ever been in love with is Viktor."

  Just as she said that, Yuuri's composure changed completely. He became stiff, even a fool could notice he was uncomfortable. He didn't dare look at her now, it was as if she had revealed he was an alien or something. But Sakura wanted to let him know it was fine, even though his feelings were obvious to literally everyone around him.

  "Like you would know," he suddenly said with a wavering voice, his left hand clenched into a fist, "You're fifteen, you know nothing about love."

  Sakura stared at him for what seemed like an eternity. She didn't know what to tell him. Because, did she? Did she actually know what love was? "I don't know..." she looked away from her brother, diverting her gaze through the window that was above her bed, "I don't know if I know... Maybe I do? I felt strange, these past few days, that's for sure."

  "What are you talking about?" Yuuri asked, leaning against the wall with the pictures of all the skaters Sakura admired. When she finally looked back at him he had a weird expression on his face. He was worried, but he was also intrigued.

  "You know, when I broke my foot Yurio came to my room and he talked to me. And he made me feel better," she said, glancing away from her brother, "Then yesterday I thought I'd return the favor by showing him around Hasetsu."

  "Well, that's nice," her brother gave her a simple smile, "You guys are becoming friends, right?"

  "Yeah," she shrugged, "But then I showed him my secret place. You know, the one I told you about?"

  "The old paper factory building on the border of the town?" he raised his eyebrows, folding his arms together as his eyes widened.

  "Y-Yeah... And then Yurio said it was nice. I mean, he really liked it and I was glad that he did. But then he told me that he wouldn't show that place to just about anybody and now I don't know if he's just about anybody to me."

  "Aw, that's cute," Yuuri teased and Sakura's whole face lit on fire.

  She looked at him with anger in her eyes, "It's not cute, okay? Yuri is weird. He's pretty from the outside and mean on the inside. I just don't know how to feel... My feeling about him is just as weird as he is and I haven't a slightest idea what to do about it," she admitted finally, hugging her knees and putting her forehead on them.

  A heavy silence hung in the air as she finished, she supposed that Yuuri had no clue what to tell her. After all, he didn't experience anything like that. It was driving her mad, the feeling that she had about Yuri Plisetsky was not from the planet Earth if you asked her. He could've actually been an alien, for all she knew. 

  "Come on, Saki, it's not that bad..." Yuuri said suddenly, putting an arm on her shoulder, "You like him, so what? It's fine, you'll get it sorted out, I know it. Just don't worry too much, alright?" her brother said and when she looked up at him he had the warmest smile she had ever seen on him.

  Sakura nodded and stood up, pulling Yuuri in a tight hug, "I've missed you so much during these five years," she said, burying her face into his shoulder as he chuckled and hugged her back.

  "I missed you too," Yuuri put his chin on her top of her head, squeezing her even tighter into the hug. He was obviously not going to let go off her first, so she gently pulled away. "You know, you can tag along to see us skate tomorrow, huh? I'm sure Yurio and Viktor won't mind."

  "Yeah, I don't know..." she looked down at her feet, "Not being able to skate myself would be kinda awful."

  "Well, what if I tell you it was actually Viktor's idea to call you?" he told her and her head immediately shot up, her eyes wide and staring into his, "That's why I came here in the first place."

  She frowned, "That's one more reason why I shouldn't come."

  "Why are you so stubborn? Viktor said those things just because he was worried you actually broke your foot thanks to him, it's his way of self defense. I'm sure he would change his mind when he sees you skate."

   She shook her head, looking away from his face, "That's the problem, Yuuri," her voice was just a hush above a whisper as she said, "I don't think I'm actually good enough to prove him wrong."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well, that was kind of underwhelming compared to the other chapters... but i'm planning to have sakura talk more with yuuri. but i also think that i'm doing a good job with sakura/yurio huh... idk. i hope you enjoyed!


	9. 9

Still, the day after she had to go to the Ice Castle. She was heading there right after school, like she normally used to before Yuuri came back to Hasetsu. That was her routine, which she was going through almost always without exceptions. She'd go to school and then come to the ice rink right after that, practice for a few hours and then head home.

Especially now that she started high-school. She had barely any friends, and even those kids that she hung around in school, she didn't speak to after they exited the school grounds. All her middle school friends scattered around Hasetsu and they didn't talk anymore. Maybe because she wasn't a fan of change, but even if that was the case, it meant that all those friendships weren't as strong after all. Perhaps her only best friends were her skates and the ice. It's all she really knew to care for and love. Except her family, of course.

She swiftly ascended the stairs in front of the Ice Castle of Hasetsu, skipping one step at a time in order to get up even faster. Even though she was nervous, she was also really impatient to get there. The echo of her quick steps was the first thing she heard as she entered the building, finding that the only one there was Yuuko, who smiled at her the moment she saw her.

"Hey," the younger girl greeted her friend, slightly out of breath. Just as she said that, Yuuri emerged from the short hallway that led to the ice rink. He was out of breath as well, beads of sweat lining up on his forehead. "Is practice that difficult?" Sakura raised her eyebrows at her brother.

"It must've been," Yuuko beat Yuuri to it, "He was practicing the whole morning." The older girl smiled at Yuuri and his whole face flushed red.

Her brother scratched his neck, "Yeah, Yurio just went on the ice if you want to see him skate," he gave Sakura a meaningful look.

She returned with a look of her own, narrowing her gaze and puffing through her nose lightly as she silently strode away into the ice hall. Her eyes were fixed on the ice and once she finally came into the hall, her hearing was swarmed with a soft, but at the same time sharp melody.

"No, no," a voice interrupted, making her search for its owner, "Let's start back from the beginning." It was Viktor, standing beside the border of the ice rink, his body language tense and his eyes slightly narrowed. Then he sighed and closed his eyes, covering his face with his palm. After a few seconds he stopped the music on the CD player.

Sakura looked back on the ice, seeing a displeased Yuiro, bent over as he tried to catch his breath. "I didn't get past thirty seconds for five times already, what do you want from me Viktor?!" he yelled at the older skater, but before Viktor could answer him, he noticed Sakura. "When did you get here?"

She glanced away from him, stuffing her hands in her pockets, "Just now. School finished so I thought I'd stop by on my way home."

She could hear the way Yuri's skates scraped the ice as he glided towards her, stopping at the edge of the ice rink. "But you still can't skate, can you?" he asked, one of his eyebrows arching upwards.

"I can't," she grimaced when she looked back at him, "I just wanted to see how you skate, is all..." shrugging, she put down her bag and watched him skate away towards the center of the ice.

"Well, let's try again," Viktor sighed and pressed the play button, restarting the music.

It was a slow and pure sound, echoing around in the empty hall in form of a brisk wave that came back and swallowed Sakura whole. And Yuri looked beautiful in the middle of it, it was impossible to look away. He was still tense, but even though he got the program only a day ago- it was exceptional. This was definitely something he could win with.

Sakura was breathless as she watched him. He was absolutely enthralling. She could feel her heartbeat rising as her eyes followed Yurio's every movement. His turns were still a bit sharp, they weren't lining up one after the other as smoothly as they should have, but his posture was still extraordinary. He was completely driven and he skated like it, which wasn't entirely good, but she still couldn't stop staring with wide eyes.

Then came his first jump, a triple axel. Which he landed perfectly. Sakura felt like her heart would stop beating at any given moment. She could never land a jump like that. And with such precision. Jumps were obviously his strong suit.

"Relax your arms," she yelled at him, "Feel the music." She could see Yurio was startled for a moment, but quickly followed the order and tried his best in relaxing his arm muscles.

She began to hum the melody of the song to herself. It was impossible not to, it was so pure, yet fierce and full of energy. It was perfect for someone like Yuri. Now she could understand. This song described it perfectly, what she saw in him.

He was a beast, a hostile beast that was ready to crush everybody in his way. Yet, he had such tenderness in him that she couldn't discern which one she had to fear more. The wild or the tame side? Was she to fear for herself or for her brother who had to go against such prodigy monster like Yuri Plisetsky?

Why did she feel like her heart was going to explode at any given second now? He wasn't even at his best, he was sloppy and pathetically imbalanced. But still- he was magnificent, even at his worst.

And the song? The song just clawed at her, tearing her heart into pieces and giving her hope all at once. It was brisk and she felt dizzy listening to it. It was waking up every emotion inside of her and she didn't even realize what was happening until the music stopped.

"Are you okay?" Yuri stared at her with wide eyes, skating over to put a hand on her shoulder.

 She stared into his eyes, a mix of vibrant turquoise and baby blue swirling together with a bright shine. They stared right back at her in confusion. Just as his hand touched her shoulder, she shook away from the trance and stepped backwards. There were tears streaming down her face of which she wasn't aware until now.

  "Sorry," she said in a hushed whisper and backed away, wiping the tears off her face with her sleeve. She looked at the ground, trying to focus her vision and blink back any remaining water in her eyes. "That was good," Sakura complemented the young Russian while smiling, "Still needs a lot more practice, though. You were tense, for a second you could've lost balance from how stiff you are. That can't happen to you if you want to win gold in Grand Prix finale."

  "Who said he'll get there?" Viktor suddenly voiced his opinion from beside Sakura.

  And with that- the mellow feeling in her chest withered away. She turned to look at her brother's coach, her eyes instantly drained of the emotions that she was feeling only a second ago. 

  "Let's be honest, there will be many  _very_  competitive skaters in your way, Yurio."

  "Show a little enthusiasm, Viktor," Sakura crossed her arms over her chest, "I'm sure that Yurio won't start slacking if you give him a little bit of praise."

  "Praise comes after you succeed," the man looked down on her with his head high, a gesture that was supposed to make Sakura feel lesser than him and to figuratively put her in her place. But the teen didn't budge.

  "And sometimes it can  _help_  you succeed. Sometimes harshness and cruelty can make a person feel miserable. But for someone whose heart is as cold as the ice that they skate on- that's probably hard to understand."

  Viktor was visibly speechless. His mouth formed a straight line and his jaw was clenched, with such force that Sakura thought his teeth would shatter. He was still looking down on her, trying desperately to assert a sense of dominance.

  "Do you always speak to adults as if they're your equal?" the silver haired man finally spoke, one of his eyebrows arching upwards.

  "There's no reason not to," she huffed, "I'm not being rude, simply telling the truth." Just as she said that, she turned towards Yurio, who was staring at them with a shocked expression. "Do you want to go out later? Get crepes or something?"

  "I- I thought I'd practice a little longer today, with the face-off being in two days..." her friend scratched the back of his head. He seemed like he wasn't sure in that, but she was willing to let it go. She felt like being alone, anyway.

  "Well," the brown haired girl sighed shortly, "See you back at the Inn." The girl listened to Yurio say a quick bye while she directed a side-eyes glance towards Victor, who looked back at her with a stern face.

  She walked out of the ice hall with her head high, and her self-assurance even higher. With each day she was better and better at ignoring Viktor's desperate attempts to set himself on a higher level than she was. Though, that didn't work well for him these days.

  Fairly viewed, she didn't think there was anything about him that made him better than anybody else around him. He may be a great skater, but a great person? Not entirely,  no. He was cold and so used to winning that it was hard for him to stay humble. Perhaps he didn't have to, he really  _was_ the best when it came to skating, but he could've at least pretended to care about other people's feelings. But he didn't. Or at least he didn't show it. 

  Regardless, the way Viktor annoyed her wasn't enough to make her forget Yuri's skating performance. And that song.

  Agape.

  Was that what she was feeling?


	10. 10

  Sakura leaned against the wall of the ice hall, behind all the cameras that were directed towards her brother and Yurio, along with Viktor beside them. It was a big event for such a small town, which meant that many local news channels sent their teams to report on it. There was also a bunch of foreign casting companies that were involved. Such big publicity wasn't appealing to Sakura and she kept to herself. Most of the world didn't even know Yuuri Katsuki had another sister.

  She watched her brother, his coach and his rival talk to the reporters, still bickering at each other, even on camera. Sakura didn't know what to make of all of this. Was she supposed to cheer for Yurio? Because, if she was honest, if he won everything would go back to normal and she wouldn't have Viktor in her life. Yuuri would probably go back to Celestino or would simply give up. Which was why Sakura felt like she was being cruel for wishing him to lose. If her brother lost, that would crush him completely.

  Sakura looked away from the trio of skaters once Yuuri noticed she was watching them. She bowed her head and quickly walked out of the hall and into the small storage room that was connected to it. She stood in the corner in an attempt to exclude herself from the situation as much as she could. 

  It was overwhelming, even though she wasn't the center of attention. Perhaps it was too much to feel so small next to such great skaters. She would never be able to achieve what either one of them had achieved so far, not to mention that Yurio's career has only started and he was already one of the best. Even after all her effort and hard work, Sakura wasn't anywhere near the genius that was Yuri Plisetsky. 

  Viktor was right when he told her she should give up. She wasn't good now and she never would be. She was good at maths and science. But what was she supposed to do with that? She despised numbers and formulae, it was the most straightforward way of thinking. No imagination needed. No creativity. Then again, did she have enough creativity to become a skater? Her love for skating didn't automatically mean she was good at it.

  The door opened. 

  "Did you completely forget why we're here?" Yurio growled at Viktor as they walked in.

   Sakura avoided looking at them. She leaned against the wall and buried her hands in the pockets of her jacket.

   "Of course I didn't, Yurio," Viktor sighed dismissively, "We are here to find out whether you are capable enough for me to coach you. Or if Yuuri is. I do not need you to remind me every few minutes."

   "Doesn't seem like it," the younger Russian scoffed. 

   "Hey," her brother said and she looked up, only to find out he was addressing her, "Sakura, weren't you supposed to be with Minako on the stands?"

   The younger Katsuki shook her head, "I thought I'd say good luck to you."

  Yuuri's bright smile lit up his whole face. "That's really nice of you," he acknowledged.

  "It's fine," Sakura mumbled, "I'm going to wait for you outside." She headed for the exit, trying to ignore Yurio's curious glances as she passed him. But just as she was about to go out, the door swung open to reveal a rather excited Yuko.

  "Yurio," she practically chirped, "You're up in just a minute."

   A dreadful quiet followed, the only audible sound in the whole room being that of the zipper on Yuiro's 'Russia's national team' jacket. The silence was almost deafening as Sakura stared at him in awe. He took off his trousers as well as the jacket to reveal a shimmering skating costume. Sakura noticed it was Viktor's old costume, one of those from his junior days.

  Yuko was near to screaming from exhilaration, successfully absorbing all of Yurio's attention. That left Sakura safe to observe his elegant posture. He stood upright, exuding confidence. His chin was high and he seemed as if he was looking around from above while everything else was lesser than him. He looked graceful, and Sakura knew that he was the same on ice.

   "It looks perfect on you!" Yuko assured him.

   " _Spasiba_ ," Yurio nodded, maintaining a serious expression the whole time.

   "You're going to do great, _primadonna_ ," Sakura swallowed all of the insecurities she had as she folded her arms and smirked at the young Russian.

  "Of course I am," he smirked back at her and walked out of the room.

  Sakura quickly followed, trying to evade the two older skaters that remained in the room. She was quick enough to catch Yurio just before he went on the ice. The boy doubled over and took off the safety off his skates, standing straight again and looking directly into her eyes. A chill ran down her spine, but she tried her best not to show it as she nodded shortly at him with a stone cold face.

  In the moment after that, he had already been skating across the ice. Sakura was suddenly aware of how big the hall seemed with such a large number of people in it. The bright reflectors shined down on her friend, blinding her as the light reflected in the rhinestones on his costume. The whole world seemed to disappear as he stopped in the center of the ice.

  When the music played Sakura lost her breath. He moved with such elegance that it seemed unreal. Her eyes were glued to him, following every spin and turn he made. His jumps were impeccable, he never once lost balance. It was beautiful. And that intimidated Sakura. How could he be so good? Was she supposed to be jealous? Or simply in love with the genius that was Yuri Plisetsky? 

  But it still wasn't  _perfect_ \- Sakura wasn't that naive. As much as she didn't want to believe it, Yuri had his flaws. He was still driven to win. Although, part of it wasn't his fault. It was Viktor's fault. At least Sakura was ready to blame him a bit. If he wasn't so obsessed with putting up a show he would've been even a better coach.

  Despite all of that, Yuri was still brilliant on the ice. His turns were less snappy, the motion of his hands was smooth and his whole body was stable as he skated. And the last few spins were amazing. He was showstopping, nobody could take their eyes off of him. 

  And all of this at just fifteen years old...

  Sakura couldn't compare.

  The music ended and the room erupted with applause. Everybody was cheering for the prodigy on ice and the younger Katsuki sibling joined in as well. She allowed herself to finally smile, applauding at the young skater. Yurio bowed down, soon heading out of the rink and leaving to get his jacket. 

  Sakura decided it was for the best to keep her distance. Her brother was up next and she needed to give him as much attention as she gave to Yurio. Even if she found it difficult.

  The two of them hadn't talked much, Yuuri was way too obsessed with Viktor to clear up his schedule for brother-sister time. She couldn't blame him. He was too starstruck to see that by loving Viktor he would eventually get hurt. Viktor wasn't that kind of person to have patience for others and take note of their emotions. And her brother was way too emotional.

  She looked off to her right, putting her elbows onto the wall of the ice rink. Yuuri was hugging his potential coach, and to her surprise Viktor hugged him back. He probably didn't understand that Yuuri actually needed reassurance- he wasn't putting up a show. It wasn't just a stunt for shock value to him. It was real.

  The older Katsuki got onto the ice and skated off to the middle. His posture was relaxed. His head was high. Sakura has never seen him this confident. He seemed like he knew what he was doing. Perhaps she had evaluated the situation poorly. He did pick up something good from all the tension between him and Viktor. Inspiration.

  The music started, the familiar sound of flamenco guitars and castanets echoed throughout the hall. Yuuri moved in sync with the melody, a completely determent look on his face. His performance score was going to be flawless. Although, just as Sakura thought he couldn't make a mistake- he accidentally stepped out of the quad Salchow. It wasn't a surprise, but it left her tense none the less. Though, Yuuri didn't seem to be too stressed about it, carrying on and doing a quad toe-loop which was followed by a triple toe-loop.

  Sakura was left in awe. This truly wasn't the Yuuri she knew. He was transforming into the figure skater both of them aspired to be. He was finally becoming the champion that was hidden in him for a long time. Only now, with Viktor's help, he was able to let it all out.

  The brown haired girl smiled to herself. The world was finally going to appreciate her brother like he deserves.

  But her attention was suddenly drawn away from the ice. A small commotion was taking place besides her in the small crowd of people just outside the rink. When she tried to figure out what was happening, it suddenly dawned on her. Yurio was missing.

  She looked around frantically, her chest suddenly too tight and the air surrounding her too thin to breathe in. She wasn't ready to let Yurio go away without saying goodbye. 

  Forgetting about her brother's performance, Sakura stormed through the crowd of reporters, trying not to knock into somebody on her way out. Even Viktor turned to look at her as she sped past him. She couldn't care less, though.

  Why would he just leave without telling her? Weren't they supposed to be friends? Or did he see her only as his rival's sister and nothing else?

  Her heart was exploding, she was so frantic that her legs felt numb. But they worked on their own, carrying her outside of the Ice Castle of Hasetsu, where she was met with the sight of the young Russian skater dragging his tiger print suitcase behind him. He was completely calm, but stopped in his tracks as he heard footsteps behind him.

  "You thought you can run away without a proper goodbye?" Sakura was trying to catch her breath as she stared at his back.

  He turned around on his heel after a torturing period of silence. "There is no goodbye," he told her with no emotion showing in his eyes, "We'll see each other again." But his eyes still shined. In the setting sunlight, they shined even brighter than usual. The shimmer in the emerald colour left her confused. 

_What is it that she was feeling?_

  "Is that a promise?" she tried to compose herself, putting up a facade in form of a stone cold expression that mirrored his. If he was going to hide whatever was going on in his head then she was going to do it as well. It was too much to let out, anyway.

  The Russian boy nodded, " _Da svedanya_."

  "Good luck."

  And with that he turned around and disappeared down the stairs. 

  Sakura finally let go of the breath she was holding in. 

_It isn't over._

_They were going to see each other again._

 She was back just in time to hear the results, which, of course, only confirmed that her brother won. Him and Viktor looked determined as they stood on the podium in the middle of the ice rink. But she was too dazed to hear her brother's speech.

  The only thing on her mind was Yuri Plisetsky.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is a weird chapter ? idk..

  Sakura glided across the ice rink, breathing in the cold air as she tried to relax. She was tense. Extremely tense. Which, of course, caused her to overwork herself once again. It didn't help that she buried herself in her physics and math homework, it didn't help that she spent almost half an hour in the hot spring and it didn't help that she assisted her mother in cleaning the inn while Viktor and Yuuri were out doing who knows what. 

  They were leaving tomorrow to go to the Chugoku, Shikoku and Kyushu regional Championship where Yuuri will compete against the skaters Sakura has known as some of the best in Japan. It wasn't going to be easy, but Yuuri has evolved so much in the past month or so that she didn't have to worry for him. 

  Why was she so tense then?

  "Sakura-" Yuko whined from besides the rink, "you need to take a brake..."

  The young skater rolled her eyes at the older girl. "I've only gotten onto the ice."

  "It's been an hour already," scolded her friend. The Nishigori was now looking at Sakura with her arms crossed over her chest and a scowl on her face. Nothing could help Sakura persuade Yuko to allow her stay on the ice a bit longer. At least she thought so.

  "Alright," she skated over to the exit, "Only because I got bored."

  "You? Bored of skating?" a voice suddenly interrupted. It was her brother, fully dressed in his training outfit with skates already on his feet. "It's unlikely of you to obey this easily."

  "I know when it's time to stop," she shrugged, "Besides, I don't want to sprain my foot again. A few more strikes and I'm out for good." She started making her way out of the hall, but her brother stepped in front of her.

  "Maybe we could do a duet?" he suggested, "For old times sake?"

  Yuko didn't look pleased by the proposition, "Yuuri, she can't skate too much. Your mother said I can't let her."

  Sakura's eyes sparkled with hope as she stared at Yuko, pleading her to let go off this one. She didn't want to miss a chance to skate a duet with Yuuri if she had it. They were growing so distant because of him being so occupied with training that he hadn't even seen her skate for the past month or so. "Come on, Yuko. I can go on for fifteen more minutes..." Sakura gazed right into the older woman's eyes.

  Yuko's expression softened, signifying that she understood the situation, however her voice remained somewhat stern as she raised her index finger in the air, "Ten minutes. Not a second longer."

  Sakura's face lit up. "You won't regret it," she chirped as she got back in the rink. She took in a deep breath and released it slowly. Having Yuuri there, watching her skate after such a long time, made her nervous. And considering that he was much more skilled now- well, that didn't go in her favour.

  "What are we going to skate to?" Yuuri was right behind her, following her to the center of the rink. He was still completely relaxed and even excited to do this.

  She pretended to think about it, but in reality she knew the answer right away, "We can do your new free program?" she smiled at him, casualy circling around the spot where he stood.

  "You know how to do my free program?" he questioned. When she stopped, he gave her a shocked look.

  Sakura smiled at him, "Well, I tried it a few times. But have in mind, this is maybe third full program I've tried to skate so..." she shrugged.

  Yuuri's eyes widened, "Third?"

  "Yeah," she glanced away from him, "I learned how to skate one of Christophe Giacometti's programs and another one." She desperately tried to avoid his gaze. The ' _another one_ ' was Agape, but she wasn't going to submit willingly to the mocking of her whole family when they learn that she tried to skate Yurio's performance.

  "Wow," Yuuri chuckled, "I didn't know that. Maybe you can show me those two some other time, heh?"

  Her whole face started burning up, "Sure," she cleared her throat, "Shall we begin?"

  "Actually," he glided towards the wall of the rink, "I'd like to just watch. Is that okay?"

  Sakura's stomach twisted. _No it isn't okay. It's far from okay._

"Yeah," she smiled at her brother, "It's fine."

  Yuuri gave her a thumbs up and she looked away from him.

  This was going to be fun. Her brother watching her skate his free skate program, which was composed by none other than Viktor Nikiforov, mind you. She hadn't even managed to land a single jump from the composition, but there was no going back now. She was determined to see this through even if it cost her another broken bone.

  Sakura took in a deep breath, glancing at Yuko and giving her a sign to play the music. As soon as the first note echoed through the hall, Sakura was in the zone. She was completely entranced by the melody and let her body lean into it as she flowed along the ice.

  She focused on the ice, ignoring the fact that her brother was staring at her without even blinking. She could feel his gaze burning her as it followed her every little move, every little twitch of her muscle. He was analyzing her, deducting everything that was wrong with the way she carried herself.

  But she couldn't pay attention to that now. The first jump was a quad-triple combination. And she had no clue what she was doing. Yet, she kept a sterile expression, pretending that she is confident when in reality her very soul was terrified.

  She puffed out a breath and jumped.

  A quad.

  A triple.

  And Sakura did it. _She did it._

  With perfect momentum and a near perfect landing.

  She couldn't stop, none the less. There was no time for excitement. Not even when she heard Yuko's sharp, almost terrified gasp and her brother choking out an  _'oh my god'_ in disbelief. The music kept playing, its pace picking up and keeping Sakura trapped in the performance. Her stomach was aching from the thrill, adrenaline coursing through her veins.

  Her arms were stiff now, after the first jump, but she managed to relax her muscles and prepare for the next jump- a triple Salchow. It was as if she was sure she could do it, even though she hadn't done it before. Even though she has attempted all of the jumps on the menu, never once had she landed them.

  Today was different.

  Jumping up in the air, Sakura was back on the ice in a blink of an eye. Her balance was off and she almost fell. Her heart skipped a beat. Still, she was on her feet. It wasn't time to give up now.

  Nothing mattered now. This was _her_ moment. She wasn't small. She could do it. And much, much more than that.

  _Suck on that Viktor._

  She jumped and spun, even took her time with the step sequence. There was nothing that could stop her. She landed all of the jumps, some of them perfectly, some of them not. But all of them were there. She was focused. The music was the only thing in her head.

 She followed the moves that she remembered by heart from all the times she watched Yuuri do the program. And all the times she watched him fall and stand back up. There were many more times that she fell. Neither one of them were perfect, but both of them were managing to improve. She looked up to him and this is where that took her.

  Now it was time for her to take off on her own.

  The music carried her along, making her move in a trance. She was persistent, not even noticing anything around her at that point. All that existed was the music and her. The ice and the skates on her feet. Nothing else mattered in that moment.

  With the final jump and the culmination of the music track- she stopped in the center.

  As she was sucked back into the real world, she realized who she was pointing out to. The man she once blindly adored. Viktor Nikiforov.

  And in that instant, as she realized who stood before her, slowly clapping his hands with a smile and glittering pride in his eyes, realization dawned on her. The reality struck her as a heavy weight and when she fell to her knees, a sob escaped her lungs.

  _She did it._

  Everything seemed too real, but also as if it was way too far out of her reach. She couldn't grasp the present- _what has happened_? She was terrified, thrilled and proud all at the same time. Emotions  were mixing around in her body and were ravaging her insides as she tried to comprehend what she just did.

  By the moment that Yuuri was kneeling next to her on the ice, Sakura's whole body was shaking. She felt cold, tears were streaming down her face. She buried it in her hands and doubled over, completely curled up on the ice. The only other thing that she felt than the stinging cold was her brothers hand on her back, trying to reassure her that everything will be okay.

  "That was beautiful, Sakura," he whispered, sniffling a bit. _Was he crying?_

  It was too difficult to stand up. She couldn't stop crying. Everything that she was feeling since Yuuri arrived in Hasetsu was fading away. Relief flooded her system as she bawled all the emotions out. All the insecurities and fears that she had. The disappointment and confusion. This performance proved to her that she could do it. That she wasn't as miserable and as untalented as she thought. There was hope.

  "Saki, come on," Yuuri shook her softly, "we have to get off the ice. You're going to catch a cold."

He helped her stand up and the two of them went out of the ice rink. She kept her gaze on the ground as she tried to maintain her balance on the skates with her vision being still blurry from the tears. Her legs were still quivering under her weight, she felt light-headed, yet so present in the moment that every single sense in her body registered pain.

  She could hear the slight murmurs coming from Victor's direction, trying to ignore them until a hand, besides Yuuri's, landed onto her other shoulder. She stopped and slowly turned around to look at her once-been idol, Viktor, through the foggy veil of her own tears. 

  "You were great," the silver haired man assured her, squeezing her shoulder. He was smiling at her with a strange sense of regret and happiness mixed in his cold eyes.

  "Yeah," she looked at the ground, shaking off both their hands, "I don't need your praise Victor. You don't have to tell me I'm great out of pity."

  Just as she was going to go out of the hall, Victor spoke up in a firm voice. "Sakura, you may be mature for your age but you're still quiet stubborn. I can be harsh sometimes, but that doesn't mean that I actually mean what I say. So I apologize for what I told you after you sprained your foot. I'm an adult and I didn't act like one then. Besides, you proved me wrong today and I'm glad that I was. I hope that we can put all of that behind us now?"

  Sakura stared ahead of her into the dim hallway. She was so tired. Too tired to fight the tears that flowed down her face once again. "Thank you for apologizing, Victor," she sobbed lightly, trying to contain herself as much as she could.

  "Do you want me to drive you home, Saki?" Yuko hugged her, her voice soft and worried.

  "Yes, please."

  Sakura was dazed and barely remembers anything after that. She just knows she got home and went upstairs immediately, took a warm shower and gone to bed. She felt herself drifting to sleep, but there was one thing on her mind.

  After everything that happened in the past two months, her life can never go back to normal.


	12. Chapter 12

    When Sakura woke up it was already pitch black outside. There was commotion in the Inn, both upstairs and downstairs. She looked over to the clock on the wall right next to the huge poster of Christophe Giacometti. It was ten o' clock. She was still sleepy, but the loud arguing from down the hallway intrigued her. She recognized the voices of her brother and Viktor, but the words were too muffled for her to understand anything. She could also hear Minako yelling from downstairs.

  Sakura felt like she would regret going out of her room, but did it anyway. Her eyes focused on the open door at the end of the corridor, trying to accommodate to the brightness of the hallway. Viktor and Yuuri were in Yuuri's room, while Minako was just coming up the stairs with a displeased expression on her face. She noticed Sakura's mellow presence in the doorway of her room, pausing at the last step.

  "Are you okay?" her expression suddenly softened, but when her student nodded, Minako resumed being annoyed. "Nishigori just canceled. He won't come with us to the competition."

  "Why?" Sakura rubbed her eyes free from sleep. An idea sparked in her mind immediately, though she was too afraid to think of it as a possibility. There was no way her parents and Minako would agree to it, she had school. But what if there was a chance?

  "Two triplets got sick and now they're insufferable. Yuko can't deal with them on her own," Minako sighed, "We have the worst luck ever." Her shoulders slumped forward. It was obvious that she was tired, probably had a double shift today. And now  _she_  would have to deal with the even more insufferable Viktor and Yuuri on her own.

  "You can't wear your last year's costume, Yuuri," Viktor's voice boomed from the end of the hallway. She could already guess that Yuuri was trying to convince his coach to let him wear one of his more plain costumes, but there was no chance in hell Viktor was going to agree to it. But he shouldn't, for once Sakura agreed with the silver-haired Russian- the costumes he picked out were beautiful and completely fit the themes of Yuuri's programs.

  Yuuri's voice was filled with frustration, "But I don't want to attract too much attention," Sakura listened to her brother's voice as she made her way over there, "It's only my first competition of the season. It's better for me to go in easy."

  "What's going on here?" Sakura interrupted, leaning on the wooden doorway of the room where the male skaters were arguing. She could feel Viktor's gaze inspecting her, making sure she was okay after that morning's events. But Sakura was good at hiding, putting up walls.

  "Viktor isn't letting me choose my own costume," Yuuri pouted, glaring at Viktor with a narrowed gaze. 

  "Of course I am not when it's boring," Viktor crossed his arms nonchalantly, cocking his head to the side, "I don't want to work with you if you don't want to open yourself up, Yuuri."

  Yuuri's expression softened, but Sakura spoke up before he could process what the Russian skater just said, "Yuuri, I honestly agree with Viktor," she looked at him softly, "You know that you will have to come out of your shell if you plan on winning the Grand Prix Final this season. And if I'm being honest, the one he picked out for you is beautiful. It also goes well with your short program."

  Yuuri stared at her and then beside her, "Are you going to say the same?"

  Minako sighed and Sakura was now aware of her presence right beside her, "I mean they've got a point. You really need to step your game up by a lot, you're going to compete against big names this season," the ballet teacher discussed, then added, "By the way, Nishigori canceled. He's not coming."

  Yuuri's face took on a panicked expression, "Why?"

  "Two triplets got sick and Yuko can't manage on her own."

  "Why didn't they just come over here? Are we sure he definitely can't come?" Yuuri blabbered and Viktor observed the situation with some distance. He seemed as if he was debating on something in his head, then finally spoke.

  "I know," he smiled cheerfully, holding up his index finger as if he's got a great idea, "Sakura can come instead."

  Sakura's ears perked up at the opportunity, but her hopes were quickly shut down when Minako said she can't because of school. What did Sakura even expect? Her family would never allow her miss school because of Yuuri's competition. Nor would Yuuri allow it himself.

  "But I'm sure she's a great student," Viktor tried to fend for her, "Besides, it's only a regional competition so it isn't far." He looked at Minako and Yuuri with sparkling eyes full of enjoyment. Sakura had no clue what had gotten into him, but if it meant that she could attend Yuuri's skating competitions then she liked it. Very much. Because it also potentially meant seeing Pichit at the Cup Of China and Plisetsky at Rostelecom Cup.

  "I don't know about that," Minako scratched her chin engaged in deep thought, "I don't think your parents will be okay with it, either way," she now addressed Sakura. Her gaze was still distant, though, as if she was still thinking through the idea.

  On the other side, Sakura has already thought it through. She would be able to see her brother compete live for one. For two, she would be able to meet amazing skaters. Those were both arguments too powerful to be overruled by her obligation of going to school. She would give school up anytime, only if it meant that she could indulge in the world of skaters and skating competitions, even if it weren't her world.

  But if they didn't want to let her, she wasn't going to complain. It was only a regional championship and if Yuuri made it further than China Cup then she would have a reason to complain. Her brother wasn't the only one who wanted to go to Barcelona. She wanted to go too. It was her dream to watch her idols skate live, to be a part of the commotion at the Grand Prix Final even if it meant being on the stands.

  "Sakura?" her brother's voice pulled her out of her thoughts, making her absentmindedly turn to face him, "Do you want to go with us?" His facial expression already told her he knew the answer, but asked purely to satisfy Minako's need for a reason to let her go.

  She smiled, "Yeah, you know I'd love to go. But if mom and dad think that I shouldn't then that's fine by me. Besides, you're travelling tomorrow so I don't know if it's suitable time for me to join you."

  "That's not a problem," Viktor chuckled, "None of us have packed out bags yet."

  Sakura gazed at him silently, then decided that she would accept Viktor's help in convincing her family to let her accompany them. "I guess so," she smiled at him and he looked genuinely pleased to see that, "Then I'm going to go ask mom and dad."

 

* * *

 

  It was around midnight and Sakura had just finished packing when she decided to sit on the porch of the Inn and get some fresh air. Tomorrow was going to be a stressful day, given that she would need to spend several hours confined with Yuuri, Viktor and Minako on the train. But she couldn't rest, she was too excited. Even though she tried to maintain a calm exterior, her heart rate sped up every time she thought that she'll watch Yuuri skate live for the first time in a long while. 

  The night, however, was beyond calming. The air was brisk and the sky was clean of clouds, the stars bright and large against the deep black surface of the atmosphere. She observed them sparkling and shining while listening to the quiet that was interrupted only by the occasional sound of a passing car and crickets hiding in the bushes. She wondered if there was a place in the world more beautiful than Hasetsu. She wouldn't know, yet she had a feeling such a thing didn't exist.

  Then there was another sound. The opening of the screen door. It prompted her to turn around and look up to see a tall, lean figure standing there. He seemed to come in peace, inviting himself to sit next to Sakura.

  "I didn't think I'd find you here," his smooth, silver hair swayed in the fresh breeze. He didn't look at her, only gazed up at the sky with wide eyes, leaning back on both of his slender, but muscular, arms. 

  "I didn't think you'd want to find me," she looked away from him, defensively curling up and hugging her knees, "Thanks for helping me convince my parents let me go with you. It means a lot."

  The Russian man was silent for a moment. "Yeah," he mumbled, "I was doing it more for Yuuri. I know he wanted you there."

  Sakura didn't know what fascinated her more about that declaration. The fact that Viktor didn't care about her in the slightest or that he managed to care about Yuuri enough to do such a thing as call his sister to cheer him on during his performance. Either way, it was brilliant how he could contradict himself in just one statement.

  "Thanks for that then, I guess," she looked away, "I'd go anywhere for Yuuri. Even if he didn't need me, I'd still be there for him. He deserves so much, but up until now people haven't really noticed the way he feels about things. I mean, I guess I did, but I'm just a fifteen year old. I don't know what the hell other people feel."

  Viktor scoffed at that, "You know a lot, Sakura. I'm an adult man and I have never seen such empathy and understanding in such a young person. I don't understand people's emotions at all, but you probably already know that because you have the ability to read people like books. All I was taught growing up was diligence and to be the best I can be, even if it meant pain and sorrow. But you have had the chance to grow up in a loving home and you took every aspect of it to build yourself into an astonishing personality and, if I am being honest, that amazes me."

  And Vikrot amazed Sakura as well. "Why are you telling  _me_ all of this, of all people?" She looked at him, only now she didn't turn away when he looked back at her.

  "Because I felt you wouldn't judge me," he shrugged.

  She frowned, "Judge you? You're brilliant, Viktor, you're the best skater in the world. Everybody aspires to be like you, everybody envies you."

  He gazed at her, sheer pain in his eyes, "Sometimes I wish I could trade that for anything else."

  A pause. A long, torturing pause that made Sakura's insides scream and twist and fire up. She wanted to hate Viktor. She really did. But he was as human as anybody else. Just as damaged. And she knew that this was a lot to him, and he probably knew that she knew. It was just mutual knowing and understanding. But she was also aware that she was fifteen, she shouldn't be burdened with such a thing. Then again, Viktor was probably holding back for so long he couldn't stop himself from opening up to her. It was definitely a relief for him. He was hurting and this was how he tried to escape.

  "I'm sorry," Viktor pinched the bridge of his nose, "You didn't need to hear that. It wasn't fair of me."

  "Don't worry," she sighed, "Everybody needs to let things out eventually. And you just so happened to unburden yourself by confessing what hurts you to a child." She chuckled and smiled at him.

  "Yes," his lips curved into a slim smile, "I suppose so."

  They sat then, in a comfortable silence. Sakura wasn't thinking about anything in particular, but then it suddenly hit her how much she found out about Viktor since he started living with them. It was like he was a completely different person to the Viktor she used to hear about. Or perhaps it was just her who changed? Maybe she was the one who finally realized that nobody is perfect, which meant she may never be perfect either.

  But what does it cost to try? What does it cost to try to become more than just the best version of herself?

  Years would pass by from now when Sakura will find out that success doesn't come without sacrifices and that in order to be a perfect skater- your heart needs to be as cold as the ice you skate on.


End file.
